- Royal Source Criticizes Tehran for ‘Terrorism’
RIYADH (Agencies): A royal insider from Saudi Arabia has confirmed the country’s involvement in intercepting Iranian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) during an attack on Israel last Saturday. This admission came in response to a report by Kan, an Israeli public broadcaster.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that the attack from Tehran involved 170 drones, over 30 cruise missiles, and more than 120 ballistic missiles. This assault was a retaliation for the bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, which resulted in the death of several high-ranking Iranian military officers earlier this month.
During Saturday’s attack, the IDF received assistance from the US, UK, France, and Jordan to intercept almost all incoming projectiles. Kan’s report also indicated that Saudi Arabia contributed to this effort.
An anonymous source from the Saudi royal family spoke with Kan and subtly confirmed the kingdom’s participation, stating that Riyadh’s air defenses are programmed to automatically intercept any suspicious entity, as per the official website of the al-Saud dynasty.
The same source accused Iran of fueling the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, alleging that Tehran is trying to undermine the progress made in normalizing relations between Riyadh and West Jerusalem. “Iran is a country that supports terrorism, and the world should have taken action against it much earlier,” the unnamed official told Kan.
These statements from the anonymous royal represent a departure from recent Saudi rhetoric, which has condemned Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in Gaza while simultaneously working towards ending its long-standing hostility with Iran.
The Muslim kingdom is a long-time ally of the US and remained at odds with Tehran.
In March 2023, Riyadh and Tehran agreed to restore diplomatic relations in a deal facilitated by China. At the time, CIA Director William Burns confessed that the US had been caught off guard by these talks.