The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia likely asked US President Donald Trump not to attack Iran, Arab 48 reported yesterday, citing diplomatic sources from both countries.
Arab 48 quoted Al-Monitor columnist Ben Caspit as saying that intelligence officials from Gulf States, “likely the UAE and Saudi Arabia,” travelled to the US and asked the Americans not to strike Iran.
Israel, according to Al-Monitor, was seemingly involved in passing the message from the Gulf States to the US administration at the last minute.
Discussing the reason for this, Ben Caspit said the Gulf States were afraid of paying a “high price” for a “relatively small” US strike.
Arab 48 also pointed to previous Israeli analysis stating that Israel intentionally refrained from commenting on the US escalation in the Gulf because of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s role in advocating for the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The news website noted that Netanyahu – who at that time was a private citizen – took part in a Congress meeting prior to the 2003 invasion and claimed that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s regime must be ousted because it was developing nuclear weapons.
Therefore, Al-Monitor said, Netanyahu does not want to look as if he is pushing the US to carry out military action against Iran, a venture which could equally succeed or fail.
In this context, Netanyahu has been trying to keep his relationship with US National Security Advisor John Bolton to a minimum. An informed source told Al-Monitor that Netanyahu privately hopes that President Trump will authorise an attack on Iran, but refrains from airing this sentiment in public.
