Saudi Protection Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman reportedly informed US officers in a non-public assembly in Washington on Friday that the Iranian regime can be emboldened ought to US President Donald Trump chorus from ordering an assault on the Islamic Republic.
“At this level, if this doesn’t occur, it would solely embolden the regime,” the protection minister was quoted as saying by the Axios information web site.
Whereas a supply aware of the assembly confirmed to The Instances of Israel that these feedback have been made, the supply mentioned they need to be understood within the context of urging the US to have a transparent plan and goals of what it needed to realize in Iran.
The supply mentioned that bin Salman additionally emphasised that bombing Iran with no clear plan would solely make issues worse.
Bin Salman’s feedback seem to point a divergence from the extra cautious place towards a US strike on Iran beforehand held by the Saudis amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Related feedback have been made by one other Gulf official at a gathering on Friday, who mentioned a US strike risked “dangerous outcomes” however no strike would result in “Iran [coming out of this] stronger.”
Responding to an X publish on the report, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote: “The Saudi boys must know.”
The Saudi boys must know
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) January 31, 2026
In response to the report, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, informed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in latest days that the dominion wouldn’t allow US forces to make use of Saudi airspace for an assault, and Saudi officers have reiterated their choice for a diplomatic resolution.
The Saudi wariness of a US strike reportedly drove Trump to delay the motion.
Axios reported that the briefing the place the Saudi protection minister made his feedback was attended by roughly 15 Center East consultants and representatives from 5 Jewish organizations, following high-level conferences on the White Home with senior US officers earlier within the week.
In response to Axios, bin Salman left Washington unsure in regards to the Trump administration’s final intentions towards Iran.
On Friday, Trump mentioned he had given Iran a deadline to make a deal, with out revealing the timeline of that deadline.
“Iran all the time needs to make a deal. However what sort of deal do you need to make is the issue. What sort of deal does Iran need to make and how much deal will the US settle for? That’s an excellent query, and we don’t see it coming collectively at this level,” a Gulf official informed Axios.
Trump’s feedback got here because the US has moved vital navy property to the Center East.
US officers say Trump is reviewing his choices however has not determined whether or not to strike Iran.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if Iran continued to kill protesters in its crackdown on the countrywide demonstrations over financial privations and political repression, however the protests have since abated.
The US has mentioned a take care of Iran must embody a ban on uranium enrichment in Iran, the elimination of already-enriched uranium from Iran, a cap on Iran’s stockpile of long-range missiles and a rollback of Iran’s help for proxies within the area — all phrases that Tehran has mentioned it is not going to settle for.
The Axios report additionally mentioned that the Saudi protection minister deflected criticism on the assembly that Riyadh was pivoting away from Israel and towards the Muslim Brotherhood.
“He mentioned a number of occasions that it was nonsense. The extra he mentioned it, the much less reassuring it sounded,” one participant on the assembly informed Axios.
