Saudi Arabia Claims in Warning to US That Iran Is Preparing to Attack the Kingdom

The US says it's prepared to respond

Saudi Arabia has claimed to the US that Iran is preparing “imminent” attacks on the kingdom and northern Iraq, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

The report said that Saudi officials have shared intelligence with Washington and in response to the warning, the US, Saudi Arabia, and several other countries in the region have put their militaries on higher alert.

At this point, there’s been no indication that Iran is planning to attack Saudi Arabia besides the Saudi claim. Riyadh often blames Tehran for Houthi attacks on the kingdom, but those operations are a response to the US-backed war the Saudis have been waging on Yemen since 2015.

Since March, there have been no reported Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia or Saudi airstrikes in Yemen. But the war could escalate at any moment as the ceasefire between the warring parties expired at the beginning of October.

The Saudis are claiming that Tehran is preparing the attacks to distract from the civil unrest inside Iran. The warning said Iran was also preparing attacks on Erbil, Iraq, in the country’s Kurdish region.

In recent weeks, Iran has launched missile strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan, targeting what they say are Kurdish separatists fomenting violence inside Iran. In one incident, the US said it shot down an Iranian drone in Iraq.

The White House National Security Council told the Journal that it was ready to respond if Iran carried out an attack. “We are concerned about the threat picture, and we remain in constant contact through military and intelligence channels with the Saudis,” an NSC spokesperson said. “We will not hesitate to act in the defense of our interests and partners in the region.”

The warning from the Saudis comes as US-Saudi relations are at a low point due to the OPEC+ decision to cut oil production ahead of the US midterm elections. The Biden administration has threatened consequences for the move but has yet to take concrete action.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.