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WASHINGTON, May 24-- In a sharp break from his predecessor Barack Obama's Mideast policy, U.S. President Donald Trump is cozying up to Israeli and Arab leaders in a bid to isolate Iran, U.S. experts said. In a first for any newly elected U.S. president, Trump paid a visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia in his first overseas trip as president. The trip was made not only in a bid to gain help in defeating terror group Islamic State (IS), but also to contain what Trump believes is a threat from Iran, the experts said. "Trump believes that Iran remains an enemy...and must be contained and pushed back," Jim Phillips, senior Middle East research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Xinhua. Trump puts a much higher priority on U.S. national security than on human rights, said Phillips, noting Obama's strained relations with Saudi Arabia over what Obama saw as human rights issues. Indeed, Trump is dramatically changing the U.S. policy on Iran and the Middle East. After years of crippling sanctions that wrecked Iran's economy, Obama extended an olive branch to Iran and agreed to lift many sanctions in exchange for a deal on Iran's nuclear weapons program. But Trump believes that was a bad deal, and sees the U.S. relationship with Iran much differently. As such, the billionaire-turned-politician is making it very obvious, through this week's Middle East visit, that he is siding with Iran's regional competitors: Saudi Arabia and Israel. | 
