WASHINGTON: The guided missiles that the United States is selling to Saudi Arabia will be used to target enemy positions in the Yemen conflict, says acting Assistant Secretary of State StuartJones.

Mr Jones, who accompanied President Donald Trump on his recent visit to Saudi Arabia and Israel, also said that the United States had forged a defence partnership with the Saudis to counter `malign Iranian influence` in the region.

At a Tuesday af ternoon news briefing on President Trump`s Middle East tour, the senior of ficial said the United States would also participate in the Saudi ETIDAL project for countering extremist ideology.

Under the project, the Saudis have established a Global Centre for Countering Extremist Ideology in Riyadh and plan to form partnerships with other Muslims nations and the United States for formulating a narrative countering the extremist ideology.But the veteran diplomat, who has served as the US ambassador to Iraq and Jordan, was reduced to an awkward silence while responding to a question about democracy in Saudi Arabia.

On Wednesday, various US media outlets described Ambassador Jones` 20-second silence as `the longest ever pause` from a US official at any news briefing.

He was asked: `While you were over there, the secretary criticised the conduct of the Iranian elections and Iran`s record on democracy. He did so standing next to Saudi ofhcials. How do you characterise Saudi Arabia`s commitment to democracy, and does the administration believe that democracy is a buffer or a barrier against extremism?` Mr Jones kept quiet for a full 20 seconds after which he managed a stuttering response: `I think what we would say is that at this meeting we were able to, err, make significant progress with Saudi and GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] partners in both making a strong statement against extremism and also, and alsoputting err... putting in place certain measures through this GCC mechanism where we can combat extremism,` he said.

And then he turned to Iran: `Clearly one source of extremism one source one terrorism threat is coming f rom Iran. And that`s coming from a part of the Iranian apparatus that is not at all responsive to its electorate.

In his opening statement, Mr Jones noted that the GCC summit document had a very strong statement expressing concern about `Iranian malign interference` in the region. The document specifically mentioned Bahrain, Yemen and Syria, the countries where Iran was involved and this was a very strong message to deter the Iranian interference, he added.

Mr Jones said that during the visit the United States and Saudi Arabia affirmed a strategic partnership for the21stcenturyandagreedtoestablish a Strategic Joint Consultative Group which would meet at least once a year. A similar arrangement was made with other GCC countries.