US-Saudi relations 'strained' after Iran war operation disagreement

Diplomatic ties between the US and Saudi Arabia could be seriously dented after President Donald Trump’s dissatisfaction with the country's refusal to heed Washington's demands during the war on Iran, which could see a serious reduction in military assistance to the country.

 

This comes in reaction to Saudi Arabia’s refusal to allow the US to use its military bases and airspace during Operation Project Freedom, a military operation in early May that set out to counter Iranian attacks on ships and vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as part of the wider US-Israeli war on Iran.

 

As a result, the White House is now looking to scale back its military footprint in the Gulf kingdom, according to the Wall Street Journal, which could see a reduction in the delivery of interceptors that Saudi Arabia would need to shoot down any missiles and drones, a common move by Iran in retaliation for US attacks.

 

Saudi Arabia eventually caved into the US’s demands, lifting restrictions on its airspace alongside Kuwait, but their initial refusal was damaging enough to relations between the two allies, which in turn has signalled a fray in ties between the two allies.

 

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman initially thought that Operation Project Freedom was "not well thought-out" and could lead to an unwanted escalation with Iran, and that US President Donald Trump was "left stunned" by MbS's stance, according to The New York Times.

 

The Gulf country responded by prohibiting the use of its airspace and its Prince Sultan airbase in Al Kharj, in the country’s centre, angering the US.

 

This led to the operation being shelved, with Trump claiming that he was instead in the process of a peace agreement with Tehran.

 

On 5 May, Trump said in a Truth Social post that the decision had been made by "mutual agreement" because there had been "great progress" towards a deal with Iran, and the operation would be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed.

 

The operation, launched on 4 May, was intended to escort commercial ships through the key Hormuz waterway amid the Iranian attacks and blockade, with the intention of protecting merchant vessels from attacks and restoring the passage of commercial shipping, and was presented as the "second phase" of the US war on Iran, following the end of Operation Epic Fury.

 

During the short-lived operation, more than 100 US military aircraft took off from bases and warships across the Middle East.

 

Signs of the rift have already emerged. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not visit Saudi Arabia during his tour of the Gulf last week, instead opting for meetings in Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates - the countries hardest hit by Iranian attacks amid the wider Middle East conflict. Rubio’s move was interpreted as a "calculated snub" by Saudi officials, according to the WSJ, but the Trump administration denied this, saying that Rubio engaged in "positive conversations" with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan on the sidelines of the US Secretary of State's GCC tour.

 

The Saudi Crown Prince also turned down an invitation to the G7 Summit in the French town of Évian-les-Bains in mid-June, in an apparent reaction to the US’s handling of the Iran war, sources cited by the WSJ also added.

 

The summit was attended by the leaders of Qatar, the UAE, and Egypt.

 

Saudi and US relations date back to the early 1930s, when full diplomatic relations were established. Since then, Washington has supported Riyadh militarily, in exchange for reliable oil supplies and support for American foreign policy.

 

However, these relations have been strained over issues such as Israel, the 11 September, 2001 attacks, and the US-led invasion of Iraq.

 

After a brief period of restrengthened ties, the 2018 murder of Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi caused a serious rift between the longtime allies, as the then-administration found evidence supporting claims that Crown Prince bin Salman orchestrated the killing, something Riyadh has vehemently denied.

 

Former President Joe Biden went on to label the kingdom "a pariah" and emphasised the country’s poor human rights record.

 

However, the two countries appeared to patch things up last year after President Trump carried out a two-day state visit to Saudi Arabia, reaffirming their relations again, which also saw the signing of billion-dollar business deals.