Intelligence source confirms Saudi Arabia urged U.S. to intensify Iran attacks

Julian Borger and Aram Roston in WashingtonSaturday March 28, 2026

Mohammed bin Salman has urged Trump not to cut short war, according to New York Times report confirmed by a Saudi intelligence source. Photograph: AP

Saudi Arabia has called on the United States to intensify its strikes on Iran, a Saudi intelligence source has confirmed, as Riyadh weighs whether to enter the conflict itself.

The source backed a New York Times account saying Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, had pressed Donald Trump not to halt his war against Iran early and had described the US-Israeli campaign as a “historic opportunity” to reshape the Middle East.

The intelligence source said Riyadh was seeking not only to prolong the military offensive, but to step it up. Trump appeared to acknowledge the crown prince’s role when he told reporters on Tuesday: “Yeah, he’s a warrior. He’s fighting with us.”

There has been no indication yet of direct Saudi military involvement in the nearly four-week-old war, but a Saudi political analyst said that could change if Pakistan-led peace efforts fail.

“What matters now is Iran’s decision,” Mohammed Alhamed, a Saudi geopolitical analyst, said. “If Iran engages seriously, there is still a path to contain escalation. If it rejects the conditions and continues its attacks, the threshold for Saudi action will be crossed.”

Alhamed said Saudi Arabia “is not reacting impulsively”. “It is calibrating its response and preparing for a scenario where escalation, if it happens, will be deliberate and decisive,” he said, adding that Riyadh “has not been pushing for war.”

“It has been trying to avoid being drawn into it, while keeping all options on the table,” he said.

Saudi Arabia has already been hit by Iranian drones as part of Tehran’s response to the US-Israeli attack on 28 February. One drone strike a week ago damaged an oil refinery in Yanbu on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast.

The kingdom’s ability to move oil exports by pipeline to the Red Sea has made it less exposed than some neighbors to Iran’s longstanding threat of choking off tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. But the Yanbu strike amounted to a warning that Tehran could also target that economic lifeline.

That danger would grow if Iran’s allies in Yemen, the Houthi movement, entered the war with their own missile arsenal.

“I believe that Saudi Arabia still maintains cautious neutrality in the Iran-Israel-US war,” Hesham Alghannam, a Saudi defence expert told Agence France-Presse. But he added: “If the Houthis strike Saudi assets, Riyadh may shift toward defensive coalition support or limited retaliation.”

Saudi Arabia and Iran, both claiming leadership of the Sunni and Shia Islamic worlds, have been regional rivals for decades. A leaked US state department cable said the crown prince’s paternal uncle, King Abdullah, once urged the US military in 2008 to “cut off the head of the snake”, a reference to Iran’s theocratic leadership.

Khalid Aljabri, a Saudi exile commentator, said the kingdom in recent years had preferred a negotiated settlement to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes. But Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched their joint attack in the middle of talks aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear activity.

“In this scenario, when the war occurs anyway and escalation is happening anyway, a partially degraded Iran, a wounded lion, would be more unpredictable and more dangerous. The policy was don’t start the war, but if you start it, finish the job,” said Aljabri, a US-based cardiologist and the son of Saad Al Jabri, a former Saudi security chief who served as intelligence liaison with Washington until he fell out of favour with Prince Mohammed in 2015.

The crown prince cemented his power by building a close relationship with Trump, but observers say he may now have to reconsider Saudi Arabia’s dependence on the United States for its security.

“MBS [Mohammed bin Salman] has lost the bet on all his investments over the last several years,” Ellie Geranmayeh, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations said. “He financially invested in Trump and Trump’s family and his corporation and his White House, but at the end of the day the views of the Saudis and of the whole Gulf have been sidelined by the wishes of Benjamin Netanyahu.”

Prince Mohammed began to adjust course after a 2019 missile attack on a Saudi oil facility, which Riyadh blamed on Iran. The United States, under Trump’s first presidency, voiced support but did not carry out the retaliatory strikes the Saudis wanted.

Four years later, Saudi Arabia sought to ease tensions by signing a surprise agreement with Iran to restore diplomatic ties, in a deal brokered by China.

“After the US refused to come to their defence, the Saudis pivoted to hug Iran close, in the hope it wouldn’t lash out against them in a conflict,” Geranmayeh said. “Now the war has started and MBS lost the bet that Iran wouldn’t retaliate, he has reportedly urged the US to end the Iranian threat once and for all. So Saudi Arabia is now facing the conundrum of whether to get more involved.”

The United Arab Emirates has seen its oil exports comprehensively blocked and has openly called for a decisive military defeat of Iran. The UAE ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday: “A simple ceasefire isn’t enough. We need a conclusive outcome that addresses Iran’s full range of threats.”

Saudi Arabia, with its Red Sea export route still available, has more to lose and has not publicly called for heavier bombing. If it were to take part directly, analysts say, it could invite a harsher Iranian response aimed at its Red Sea oil pipeline, possibly with Houthi support.

“Once the bombs stop falling there will be some deep thinking in Riyadh,” Geranmayeh said. “It is not about pushing the US away but about having more options.”