More Saudi Leaders Skip Summit At White House, Send ‘Juniors’ For Talks With Obama

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that King Salman would not be a part of a U.S. summit on a possible Iran nuclear treaty. In addition, more Gulf leaders are now opting out of the summit, according to Fox News.

Four out of six invitees may not attend the summit to be held by U.S. President Barack Obama. King Salman’s absence in the Thursday summit seems to be the most critical one. The Saudi foreign minister said Sunday that the Saudi king would not be able to attend the summit because Yemen would be observing a humanitarian cease-fire on the same day.

Several national heads have expressed their inability to join Obama. They will be replaced by junior leaders who will represent their countries.

King Salman said that he should be home so that he could oversee the Yemen cease-fire. According to the U.S. administration, the Saudi k ing spoke to Obama over the phone and expressed his “regret” for not being able to attend the summit.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest admitted that there were speculations about the change of plans, Fox News reported. "I know there had been some speculation that this change in travel plans was an attempt to send a message to the United States," he said, "If so, that message was not received, because all the feedback that we've received from the Saudis has been positive."

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