FILE PHOTO: Rep. Wesley Hunt (TX) speaks during Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 15, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo© Thomson Reuters

WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Texas Republican Representative Wesley Hunt to be ambassador to Saudi Arabia, which would fill a position vacant since Trump began his second term in January 2025.

Hunt, a U.S. Army veteran once deployed to Iraq and Saudi Arabia, is not running for re-election to the House, after making an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate.

If his nomination is approved by the U.S. Senate, Hunt would go to Riyadh at a time when months of war on Iran have raised fears of wider conflict and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have launched attacks on Saudi Arabia.