US President Donald Trump’s decision to attack Iran came after Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, repeatedly lobbied him to make the move, the Washington Post reported.
The decision followed weeks of lobbying by two key US allies in the Middle East – Israel and Saudi Arabia, the report said.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued his long-standing push for US strikes against Iran, while Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has made several private calls to Trump over the past month to advocate for military action, despite public support for diplomacy.
“Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has made several private calls to Trump over the past month advocating the US attack, despite his public support for a diplomatic solution,” the website said, citing four unnamed people familiar with the matter.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack by Israel and the United States, several news agencies reported, citing Iranian state media. The killing of the 86-year-old man has cast doubt on the future of the Islamic Republic and raised the risk of regional instability.
President Donald Trump announced the death hours earlier, saying it had given Iranians the “best chance” to “take back” their country.
He criticized Iran for hitting neighboring Arab countries
Previously faced Iran widespread criticism from several Muslim countriesincluding Saudi Arabia, after it carried out retaliatory attacks on US and Israeli military bases located in several neighboring Muslim countries on Saturday following the US-Israeli attacks on Tehran.
MBS and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed discussed Iran’s retaliatory strikes on the Persian Gulf on Saturday, expressing solidarity and sympathy in their first call since a public spat in late December.
The Saudi de facto ruler called the Emirati president and “they discussed regional developments and apparent Iranian attacks targeting the UAE and several other brotherly nations,” the UAE’s official WAM news agency said.
They condemned the “dangerous escalation that threatens the region’s security and undermines its stability.”
Read also | Fresh Iranian attacks shake UAE’s Dubai, Qatar’s Doha and Bahrain’s Manama
The crown prince expressed Saudi Arabia’s “full solidarity with the UAE and offered all its resources to support whatever measures the UAE takes”, while the Emirati leader “expressed his gratitude and appreciation”.
Rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran?
The reaction of the Arab countries in some way reflects the ongoing strategic rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. For decades, the two nations have vied for political and security influence in the Middle East – a competition that analysts often characterize as “the new Cold War.”
In a sign of fragile detente, the power rivalry is based on religious and political identities – Saudi Arabia represents the predominantly Sunni Muslim world and considers itself guardian of Sunni Islamwhile Iran is a Shia Muslim state.
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This sectarian division was often invoked by both sides in the regional contest. Diplomatic ties were severed between 2016 and 2023 due to incidents such as the execution of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr and attacks on Saudi diplomatic facilities in Iran.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has made several private phone calls to Trump over the past month advocating the US strike, despite his public support for a diplomatic solution.
Both the OIC and the Muslim League, considered the largest Muslim organizations based in Saudi Arabia, condemned Iran’s retaliation on Saturday.
