Marco Rubio is the United States Secretary of State (the head of the U.S. Department of State).
Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud is Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs (appointed by royal decree in October 2019) and a senior member of the Saudi government who represents Saudi foreign-policy positions internationally.
The State Department readout does not define the phrase; contemporaneous reporting in January 2026 indicates U.S. and Gulf officials were referring to large anti‑government protests, a government crackdown, and related instability inside Iran—matters U.S. and Saudi officials were coordinating on—but the readout gives no further specifics.
They spoke by a "call" — the readout title and text describe the contact as a call (no video or in‑person meeting is mentioned).
The readout does not list any concrete steps; it says only that they "agree[d] to continue coordination in support of regional security and stability" and to "remain in close contact"—no specific actions were announced.
The Office of the Spokesperson is the State Department office that issues official public statements on behalf of the department. A "Readout" is a brief, publicly released summary of an official meeting or call describing topics discussed and any shared understandings; it is not a transcript and typically omits detailed operational or classified information.