Jerusalem: US President Donald Trump visited Jerusalem and the Western Wall on Monday as he sought ways to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace, but also used the opportunity to again lash out at Iran.
Trump became the first sitting US president to visit the Western Wall in the disputed city.
Trump's visit is part of his first trip abroad as president and follows an initial stop in Saudi Arabia, where he urged Islamic leaders to confront extremism while also criticising Iran.
It comes as he contends with a raft of problems back home, including a special counsel investigating whether his associates colluded with Russia.
Trump landed in Tel Aviv on Monday afternoon, welcomed by officials including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he walked along a red carpet ahead of a brief ceremony.
He later travelled by helicopter to Jerusalem and, in remarks at Israeli President Reuven Rivlin's residence, launched another salvo against Iran.
"The United States and Israel can declare with one voice that Iran must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon - never ever - and must cease its deadly funding, training and equipping of terrorists and militias," Trump said.
"And it must cease immediately."
When meeting Netanyahu, Trump said Iran should have thanked the United States for the 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and world powers because it led to the lifting of sanctions.
"Instead of saying thank you to the United States, they now feel emboldened," Trump said.
In Tehran on Monday, Iran's newly re-elected President Hassan Rouhani ridiculed US strategy in the Middle East, dismissing Trump's summit with Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia as "just a show".
Security was extremely tight for the Israeli leg of the visit, with police deploying some 10,000 officers.
The alleys and passageways of Jerusalem's ancient Old City, which Trump visited later in the day, were essentially under lockdown.
Trump has spoken of reaching the "ultimate deal" - Israeli-Palestinian peace - brushing off years of failed attempts by his predecessors.
Speaking just after his arrival, he said: "We have before us a rare opportunity to bring security and stability and peace to this region and to its people, defeating terrorism and creating a future of harmony, prosperity and peace."
On Tuesday, Trump will meet Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in Bethlehem in the West Bank, visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and give a speech at the Israel Museum.
Trump has sent mixed signals about how he will approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He cast uncertainty over years of international efforts to foster a two-state solution when he met Netanyahu at the White House in February.
At that meeting, he said he would support a single state if it led to peace, delighting Israeli right-wingers who want to see most of the West Bank annexed.
At the same time, he urged Israel to hold back on settlement building in the West Bank, a longstanding concern of Palestinians and much of the world.
Trump advocated during his campaign breaking with decades of precedent and moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, deeply alarming Palestinians.
He has since said the move was still being looked at.
Trump's seeming openness to at least some of Abbas's concerns has given Palestinians more reason for hope than many may have expected, but still reason to remain wary, some analysts say.
After Israel and the Palestinian territories, Trump will head to the Vatican along with Brussels and Italy for NATO and G7 meetings.