Saudis ask Trump to 'give diplomacy a chance' on Iran prior to military option, sources tell 'Post'
Saudi Arabia has asked the Trump administration to “give diplomacy a chance” before US President Donald Trump makes a final decision on whether to launch military action against Iran, two regional sources told The Jerusalem Post.“Senior Saudi officials have asked senior Trump administration officials for 'more time,'” one of the sources said.Riyadh is concerned that if Trump orders a strike on Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian military could retaliate by targeting Saudi Arabia, including its water and electricity infrastructure, as well as facilities linked to the oil and energy sectors.Several days ago, senior representatives of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, comprising Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, arrived in Tehran for meetings with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei.The delegation also included Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud.Saudis ask Iran to avoid targeting key oil, gas facilitiesAccording to one regional source who spoke with the Post, during the meetings, the Saudis conveyed a request to Iran that, should the conflict resume, Tehran refrain from targeting key Saudi oil and gas facilities.
Left out here: Drops what it reported before
The article says Saudi Arabia wants more time before Trump makes a final decision on striking Iran. It never says that Trump has publicly said he will not strike Iran before 3 November, the US midterm elections. The Post itself reported this ten days earlier. Without it a reader may believe a strike decision could come at any moment, and may read the Saudi request as the only brake on it.
How we know
- The Jerusalem Post wrote earlier“Trump has said the US will not bomb Iran again before November 3.”Netanyahu vows to eliminate Iran regime, sources tell 'Post' Trump 'very close' to renewing strikes (opens in a new tab)
- Al-Monitor reported“Trump and other administration officials have said he has no intention of launching new strikes in Iran before the Nov.”CENTCOM chief briefs Trump on Iran strike options (opens in a new tab)
However, the Iranians refused to make such a commitment, the source said.During Operation Roaring Lion and Operation Epic Fury, the joint Israeli-American military campaign against Iran in March, Tehran launched missiles and drones toward a series of targets in Saudi Arabia.At a certain point, Iran reduced and eventually halted its attacks following messages from Riyadh warning that Tehran was “crossing a red line” and that Saudi Arabia would be forced to strike Iran if the attacks continued.
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