Saudi Arabia lobbied U.S. President Donald Trump for weeks to attack Iran, according to foreign media reports. While publicly calling for a diplomatic resolution to tensions between Washington and Tehran, Riyadh was secretly pressing for military action.
The Washington Post reported on the 28th of last month, citing anonymous sources, that the U.S. strike on Iran came after weeks of lobbying by Saudi Arabia and Israel.
According to the sources, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged an attack on Iran during multiple private calls with President Trump over the past month. Publicly, however, the crown prince had been calling for a diplomatic solution to U.S.-Iran tensions.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are considered longtime rivals competing for regional hegemony in the Middle East. In recent years, however, the two nations had expanded contacts based on shared geopolitical interests. In January, as the U.S. and Iran remained locked in tensions over nuclear negotiations, Saudi Arabia stated it would not permit its airspace or territory to be used for military action against Iran.
Yet according to sources, Crown Prince bin Salman warned U.S. officials during discussions at that time that Iran would grow stronger and more dangerous if Washington did not strike while it had amassed its largest military force in the region since the 2003 Iraq War. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, the crown prince's brother, also warned of negative consequences of not attacking Iran during private meetings with U.S. officials in Washington in late January.
The Post analyzed that Saudi Arabia's dual approach stems from its view of Iran as an ultimate adversary. Saudi Arabia and Iran, as the leading Sunni and Shia powers respectively, compete for dominance in the Middle East. Israel, unlike Saudi Arabia, has openly called on the U.S. to attack Iran.
Following the U.S. strike, Iran launched simultaneous retaliatory attacks across the Middle East, including against Saudi Arabia. In response, Saudi Arabia issued a statement condemning the attacks and urging the international community to take "all necessary and decisive measures" against Iran.