Rouhani also criticized Saudi Arabia after it just hosted President Donald Trump's first foreign trip, saying that the kingdom "has never seen a ballot box" while Iran just hosted a successful presidential election in which over 40 million people voted. The vote served as a referendum on Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, as well as a vote of confidence that his government will be able to help the country's sputtering economy. Saudi Arabia immediately cut diplomatic ties and other Sunni Arab countries in the Gulf have taken a harder line on Iran since. Rouhani also defended Iran's ballistic missile program, something heavily criticized by Trump's new administration. The Trump administration in February sanctioned more than two dozen people and companies in retaliation for a ballistic missile test, warning it had put the Islamic Republic "on notice."