In a significant revelation, Saudi Arabia has confirmed its participation in a regional military coalition that includes Israel, the United States, Jordan, the United Kingdom, and France, which recently countered an Iranian attack on Israel. This coalition effectively destroyed 99% of the Iranian drones and missiles before they could reach their targets, as reported by KAN News.
The involvement of Saudi Arabia in the defensive operation became crucial as many of the drones and missiles traversed Jordanian and Saudi airspace en route to Israel.
A source close to the Saudi Royal family explained that Saudi Arabia employs an automatic system to intercept any suspicious entities in its airspace.
The anonymous source told Kan: “Iran is a nation that endorses terrorism, and the world should have curtailed it much earlier.”
This source also suggested that Iran, through its proxy Hamas, initiated the Gaza war to disrupt US efforts to facilitate a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Iran initiated the attack in response to what it claims was an April 1 Israeli airstrike on its embassy in Damascus, while indicating that it does not desire further escalation.
Although the attack did not result in any fatalities and caused minimal damage, it has heightened concerns of potential open conflict between the longstanding adversaries and intensified fears that the ongoing violence from the Gaza war might spread further.
Over the weekend, US President Joe Biden informed Netanyahu that the United States, which assisted Israel in mitigating the impact of the Iranian attack, would not engage in any Israeli counter-strikes.
Since the onset of the Gaza war in October, there have been confrontations between Israel and Iran-aligned factions across Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. Israel reported that four of its soldiers were injured hundreds of meters within Lebanese territory overnight.
The backdrop to these developments includes intense diplomatic activities led by the United States aimed at forging a three-way deal. This deal was intended to establish a strategic pact between Riyadh and Washington against Iran, facilitate a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and revive the pathway to Palestinian statehood. However, these efforts were undermined by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, though they did not completely halt the Western and Arab powers’ ability to collaborate militarily against Iran.
This collaboration marked the first time these five nations, with Saudi assistance, have operated together in such a capacity to thwart an Iranian assault.
(With inputs from agencies)
