We’re marching toward a possible regional war after this weekend's events. Iran launched a massive assault on Israel from its soil, deploying a variety of kamikaze drones and an array of cruise and ballistic missiles. Over 300 such weapons were launched at the Jewish state, with all but seven being shot out of the sky. The IDF reported that several ballistic missiles did strike within Israeli territory. In the aftermath, we have Saudi officials mouthing off about the Gaza War and its origins. Their officials say that Iran was the main architect of the war, hoping to derail the process of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Israel has released an infographic showing where the Islamic regime and its Proxies launched drones and missiles at Israel from pic.twitter.com/IXHR9IZbcG
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 14, 2024
The source is anonymous but comes as reports of Saudi military units also assisted in intercepting drones heading for Israel. American and British forces also scrambled to intercept Iranian drones Saturday night (via Times of Israel):
An unnamed official from the Saudi royal family tells the Kan public broadcaster [part of Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation] that “any suspicious object” that enters Saudi Arabian airspace is intercepted, an apparent nod toward the kingdom’s alleged role in shooting down Iranian attack drones headed for Israel last night.
The Saudi official also criticized Iran for having “engineered a war in Gaza” in order to destroy the progress it was making in normalizing relations with Israel, Kan reports.
“Iran is a country that sponsors terrorism, and it should have been stopped a long time ago,” Kan quotes the official as saying.
Anonymous or not, it’s not far-fetched. We knew Iran supplied Hamas with the intelligence and training from the get-go, but the shadow aspect also makes sense. Iran and Saudi Arabia are regional rivals, and Riyadh and Jerusalem becoming closer could threaten Tehran’s influence in the region.
No doubt, militarily, Iran would be outmatched. The Abraham Accords under the Trump administration, where Morocco, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Sudan signed a normalization treaty, paved the way for possible expansion with Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom and Israel have already been sharing intelligence since 2017. Disrupting this diplomatic trend would be in Iran’s best interests. It was an open secret, but now I guess some are saying the quiet part out loud.