Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz has urged Iran to cease backing militias in the area and to join international attempts to resurrect the failed 2015 nuclear agreement, according to the Saudi state news agency SPA.

“Iran is a neighbor of the Kingdom, and we hope that it would modify its harmful policies and actions in the area and move toward dialogue and collaboration,” the King stated in his annual address to the Shura Council.

Saudi Arabia, according to the King, is “watching with with worry the Iranian regime’s destabilizing strategy of security and stability in the area.”

The Kingdom, along with other Gulf countries, has long stated that Iran must halt its harmful actions in the area by giving financial and military assistance to its network of proxy militias throughout the Middle East, including Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria.

Iran’s “negative” activities, according to the King, include “the formation and support of sectarian and armed militias, the systematic deployment of its military capabilities in regional countries, and its failure to cooperate with the international community regarding its nuclear program and ballistic missile development.”

The King’s speech comes at a time when there is considerable uncertainty about whether the Vienna talks to resurrect the failed 2015 Iran nuclear deal will succeed.

Diplomats from the United Kingdom, China, France, Germany, and Russia – with indirect participation from the United States – have been attempting to reintroduce Washington into the agreement and persuade Tehran to comply with the agreement and implement all of the restrictions on its nuclear program.

Saudi Arabia and the Gulf nations feel that nuclear discussions must involve them since they have a direct impact on the region.