Saudi government policies have put the kingdom in dire straits such that it is not able to stand up to US President Donald Trump's manipulative policies and dismiss his excessive demands, a lawmaker said.
In a talk with ICANA about Trump's recent demand that Riyadh should fund the US if it wants Washington's continued military presence in Syria, Mohammad Jamali said, "Trump makes blunt comments on Saudi Arabia.
"While leaders of the two countries are routinely exchanging visits, Trump is open in making demands from Saudi Arabia and the Saudis do not dare to resist them."
"[Saudi Crown Prince] Mohammed bin Salman has stepped into an area that he is not able to exit. The US is well aware that the Saudis cannot retrace their path and is thus taking (undue) advantage of it," he said on Wednesday.
Trump has said he wants US troops out of Syria unless Riyadh pays the bill for continuation of US presence in the war-ravaged Arab country.
"We've almost completed that task [of defeating the so-called Islamic State terrorist group] and we'll be making a determination very quickly, in coordination with others in the area, as to what we'll do," Trump told a White House press conference with leaders from three Baltic nations, Aljazeera reported.
"Saudi Arabia is very interested in our decision, and I said, 'Well, you know, you want us to stay, maybe you're going to have to pay'."
The White House also said on Wednesday the US military mission in Syria was coming to a "rapid end".
However, on Thursday, BBC quoted unnamed US officials as saying Trump has been "persuaded not to pull the military out of Syria immediately."
The US has about 2,000 personnel on the ground in eastern Syria supporting an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias called the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The end of the group was formally declared in November and officials in the US-led coalition against IS say it has lost 98% of the land under its control in Syria and Iraq, but they stress that the terrorist group has not been completely defeated.
