US demands Gulf Arab states join war against Iran – report

Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, publicly criticized Saudi Arabia for not joining war against Iran after US embassy in Riyadh bombed.

By World Israel News Staff

The Trump administration is pressing Gulf Arab states to actively join the conflict with Iran, according to a report published by Israel Hayom on Monday.

Citing multiple unnamed sources, the report said that the US is privately demanding that its Gulf Arab allies cut all diplomatic ties with Tehran following Iranian attacks on American military and diplomatic facilities since February 28.

In addition, the US has informed Gulf Arab states that as allies of the US, it expects them to take direct military action against Iran.

The sources said that President Donald Trump is no longer satisfied with symbolic backing of the joint American-Israeli air campaign.

A Western diplomat cited in the report said that the US also hopes to send a powerful message globally that Iran is now isolated even within the Muslim world.

Several senior Gulf Arab officials have reportedly opened backchannel communications with Israel, encouraging the Jewish state to continue striking Iran until the regime is toppled, regardless of whether the US halts its air campaign.

These officials are said to have argued that Iran’s attacks on its neighbors over the past 11 days prove that the policy of containment has failed.

On Monday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a prominent Trump ally, publicly criticized Saudi Arabia for failing to take military action against Iran after Iranian drones bombed the US Embassy in Riyadh.

“Finally, to my friends in Saudi Arabia: I’ve been your biggest champion. I think the crown prince has taken Saudi Arabia in a completely different direction, in a good way,” Graham said on Fox News.

“To Saudi Arabia: our embassy was hit in Riyadh, do you not have an obligation to join the fight with us?”