(Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Michael Pompeo met Saudi Arabia’s king and crown prince on a visit to the country as the U.S. sought to ramp up pressure on Iran before new sanctions aimed at keeping a stranglehold on its economy.

After sitting with a frail-looking King Salman at the Royal Court in Jeddah on Monday, Pompeo met briefly with Mohammed bin Salman before proceeding to an undisclosed restaurant for a working lunch with the crown prince. The top U.S. diplomat is set to depart for the United Arab Emirates later in the day, as the U.S. seeks to build out what he’s described as a “global coalition” against Iran.

Pompeo hailed a “productive meeting” discussing “heightened tensions in the region” with King Salman, in a message on his Twitter account.

The secretary of state’s visit to Jeddah and Abu Dhabi comes after Iran shot down a U.S. Navy drone on June 20 and President Donald Trump initially approved, then later rejected, a plan to respond with military force. The U.S. has since sought to smooth anxieties with allies who may have seen the decision to refrain from retaliation as encouraging further Iranian aggression.

Saudi Arabia and U.A.E. are also partners in a conflict against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The rebels have launched more focused strikes on Saudi targets in recent months, including an attack early Monday on the kingdom’s Abha international airport with an explosives-laden drone. One person was killed and 21 wounded, state media reported.

Shipping Protection

A key focus for the U.S. is to gain support for better safeguards for commercial ships that pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the location where the U.S. accused Iran of attacking two oil tankers with limpet mines -- a charge the Islamic Republic denies. In a call with reporters Monday, Pompeo’s envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, said more than 60% of the oil that passes through the strait goes to Asian countries.

Hook said there was high interest in what called a “new initiative” to enhance maritime security, which he said need to be “internationalized.”

“Iran’s threats to international shipping impact states around the world,” Hook said from Muscat, Oman, where he is also meeting senior officials. “This is a global challenge that requires a global response.”

The U.S. was also set to unveil new sanctions later Monday to further constrict Iran’s economy. The U.S. has already imposed sweeping penalties in the year since Trump backed out of a 2015 nuclear deal, all but severing Iran from the global financial system.

Economic Tailspin

The Trump administration also revoked all waivers for countries to import Iranian oil without facing sanctions from the U.S. The restriction has seen Iranian exports plunge and sent the economy into a tailspin.

Hook and Pompeo declined to specify the new sanctions. They said the U.S. will continue to heap pressure on Iran to compel it to come to the negotiating table and agree on what the Trump administration says would be a new, better nuclear deal and place stronger limits on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Part of the purpose of the two officials’ trip is to pressure other countries to persuade Iran to talk to the U.S.

“When it demonstrates a willingness to talk we will be ready,” Hook said Monday. “They can either start coming to the table or they can watch their economy continue to crumble.”

So far, Iran has resisted the U.S. overtures, saying there’s nothing for the two countries to talk about. Earlier Monday, a senior adviser to President Hassan Rouhani, Hesameddin Ashena, said on Twitter that Iran rejected the U.S. stance of imposing new sanctions.

--With assistance from Vivian Nereim and Donna Abu-Nasr.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nick Wadhams in Jeddah at nwadhams@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn, Paul Abelsky

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