the consequences of the 2003 invasion and the arab spring led to increasing alarm within the saudi monarchy over the rise of iran's influence in the region. these fears were reflected in comments of king abdullah, who privately urged the united states to attack iran and "cut off the head of the snake". the tentative rapprochement between the us and iran that began in secret in 2011 was said to be feared by the saudis, and, during the run up to the widely welcomed deal on iran's nuclear programme that capped the first stage of us–iranian détente, robert jordan, who was us ambassador to riyadh from 2001 to 2003, said "[t]he saudis' worst nightmare would be the [obama] administration striking a grand bargain with iran." a trip to saudi by us president barack obama in 2014 included discussions of us–iran relations, though these failed to resolve riyadh's concerns.