Saudi Arabia has denied reports that the United States' attack on Iran was a result of consistent ‘lobbying effort' by the country, and that the country has been “supporting diplomatic efforts”.
American newspaper, The Washington Post, on Sunday reported that the wide-ranging attack on Iran was a result of a “weeks-long lobbying effort by Israel and Saudi Arabia”. The newspaper quoted at least four people familiar with the matter. The newspaper reported that the US intelligence had seen no imminent threat, but regional allies (Israel and Saudi Arabia) argued to strike.
The US and Israel have been pounding Tehran since Friday, even as the Supreme Leader of the country, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was assassinated, plunging Iran into a leadership crisis. A day after the newspaper report, Saudi Arabia denied it, while maintaining that they have consistently been supporting diplomatic efforts.
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“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been consistent in supporting diplomatic efforts to reach a credible deal with Iran,” Fahad Nazer, Spokesperson of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington DC, wrote in a post on X.
He said that at no point “in all our communication” with the Trump Administration did we lobby the President to adopt a different policy.” The Washington Post report had suggested that the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, has made multiple phone calls to the United States President Donald Trump, pushing for a strike on Iran. This was, although the Kingdom has been favouring diplomacy publicly.
Iran has struck multiple targets in the kingdom since the beginning of the war. The latest one was a strike on the oldest Aranco Refinery, forcing it shut.
Israel, on the other hand, was going to be a partner to the United States in this offensive against Iran, all along.
The airstrikes on Tehran have been retaliated with similar strikes across multiple Gulf countries, as well as in the heart of Israel. The counterstrikes by Iran have caused severe damage across the Gulf countries and in Tel Aviv.
At least three US servicemen have been killed, and five others have been injured in Iranian strikes. Trump has said that America will avenge the deaths of these “true patriots” while adding that “sadly, there will likely be more before it ends.”
The Red Crescent Society in Iran has put the number of casualties in US-Israel strikes on the country at 555 so far. The society was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that 131 cities have come under attack in the war. A top Iranian security official, Ali Larjani, on Monday said that “We will not negotiate with the United States”.
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