Secretary of State John Kerry walks alongside Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, before a meeting with Saudi king Salman in riyadh, March 5.

RIYADH — Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned on Thursday of Iran’s “destabilizing” policies in the region and stressed on ensuring Tehran doesn’t acquire nuclear weapons.

In a strongly worded statement, al-Faisal told reporters during a joint conference with Kerry in Riyadh that “Iran is taking over Iraq.”

Kerry said the United States was keeping an eye on Iran’s “destabilizing” acts even as the two nations try to reach a deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.

“Even as we engage in these discussions with Iran around this program, we will not take our eye off Iran’s destabilizing actions in the region,” he told reporters.

Kerry said Iran is still considered a state-sponsor of terrorism, adding that hithe U.S was aware of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani’s presence and activity in Iraq.

Al-Faisal said Kerry had given him assurances that Washington would not forget about other Iranian behavior in the region while it pursued a nuclear deal.

The Saudi top diplomat said Tikrit is an example of what is worrying the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia and several Arab countries are part of the U.S.-led air-campaign targeting the “Islamic State.”

During his press conference with Kerry, the Saudi foreign minister called on the coalition to fight the militants on the ground.

The kingdom “stresses the need to provide the military means needed to face this challenge on the ground,” al-Faisal said, adding that the Syrian crisis is providing shelter for terrorism, “with Assad’s blessing.”

Kerry, meanwhile, said military pressure may be needed to oust the Syrian president.

“He’s lost any semblance of legitimacy, but we have no higher priority than disrupting and defeating Daesh… Ultimately a combination of diplomacy and pressure will be needed to bring about a political transition,” he told reporters, adding that “military pressure may be needed.”

Daesh is an Arabic acronym for IS.