“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Rubio said on June 13.
Trump’s latest post on Truth Social, however, indicates that the United States was aware about the Israeli strikes and it will continue to support Israel through means of military equipment as well. “I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to “just do it,” but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done,” Trump said.Read more: Israel Iran War LIVE Updates: Israel shuts global embassies
Trump warned of further military actions by Israel against Iran through means of “best and most lethal weapons” that America makes. “I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come – And they know how to use it,” Trump added.
Trump called out Iran’s Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, saying that he spoke bravely of the retaliatory actions if the conflict erupted and how Iran would target the US bases in the host countries, without knowing what would be the extent of the Israeli strikes. Trump warned that the conflict will only get worse and Iran should make the nuclear deal “before it is too late”.
“They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse! There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,” he said.
“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump added.
Read more: US Stock Market LIVE Updates: Dow futures down 420 points after Israel strikes Iran, spiking oil pricesThe Saudi Arabia-Iran-Israel and US connection
Saudi Arabia was quick to condemn the Israeli strikes on Iran on June 13 morning, calling them as “blatant Israeli aggressions” against the “brotherly” Islamic Republic of Iran as a “clear violation of international laws,” urging to “immediately halt this aggression”.
However, post Trump’s warning and acknowledgment that the US was aware about the Israeli airstrikes, the Kingdom sees itself into a complex waters as it has good relations with the US and have been trying to maintain diplomatic ties with Iran since 2023, when both the countries re-established diplomatic channels through mediation of China.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have been in conflict with each other over influence in the West Asian and Muslim countries. Both the countries have regional aspirations and have supported different factions in issues concerning their counterparts such as Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
However, the countries have been sharing mutual views on the Israel-Palestine conflict that has destroyed the Gaza strip. And Saudi Arabia along with Egypt are playing a key role in planning a ceasefire agreement to bring the US, Israel, Palestine on the same page.
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This becomes important to understand that Saudi Arabia and Israel have not had good relations with each other. Trump, however, has been trying to convince Saudi leaders to join the Abraham Accords, which could normalise the relations between the two countries.
Abraham Accords are the bilateral agreements between the Arab nations and Israel, through means of diplomatic channels trade, and other partnerships. As of yet, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco have signed the Accords through active mediation of the United States.
While Trump administration is also actively trying to negotiate the agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the latest conflict in West Asia only makes things complicated for the countries in the region, and not the one far across the ocean. Even though US has its military bases in Middle East, the possible retaliation by Iran, if at all, especially on these bases, would only deepen the crisis.
Only time will tell whether Saudi Arabia would support its regional counterpart Iran or it would sideline with US and its historic friend Israel.
