{"id":54587,"date":"2026-03-10T13:15:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T17:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/?p=54587"},"modified":"2026-03-10T13:15:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T17:15:57","slug":"lindsey-graham-threatens-saudi-arabia-if-they-do-not-join-war-on-iran-after-us-abandoned-all-ksa-bases-and-used-their-interceptors-to-protect-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/?p=54587","title":{"rendered":"

Lindsey Graham threatens Saudi Arabia if they do not join war on Iran after US abandoned all KSA bases and used their interceptors to protect Israel.<\/b><\/h3>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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US<\/a>\u00a0Senator Lindsey Graham lambasted\u00a0Saudi Arabia<\/a>\u00a0on Monday for not attacking\u00a0Iran<\/a>\u00a0and threatened \u201cconsequences\u201d against other Gulf countries if they do not join the US-Israeli<\/a>\u00a0war on Iran, which the kingdom has opposed from the outset.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is my understanding the Kingdom refuses to use their capable military as a part of an effort to end the barbaric and terrorist Iranian regime who has terrorized the region and killed 7 Americans,\u201d Graham wrote on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Graham\u2019s post effectively confirms what a US official told Middle East Eye previously: that Riyadh has prevented the US from accessing its bases for offensive operations.<\/p>\n

US Central Command said on Monday that a seventh American soldier died from wounds he sustained on 1 March in an Iranian strike on a US military base in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

Iran attacked the US’s Prince Sultan Air Base in the kingdom and also hit the CIA’s section of the US embassy in Riyadh.<\/p>\n

Graham lobbied forcefully for the war on Iran, which began on 28 February.<\/p>\n

MEE revealed that his trip to Saudi Arabia last month was an attempt to bring Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on board with the attack. Graham\u00a0confirmed<\/a>\u00a0the purpose of his visit to The Wall Street Journal over the weekend.<\/p>\n

Graham\u2019s statement was widely viewed by analysts as adding fuel to a fire. The Gulf states have complained they are not receiving interceptors from the US, and officials in the region are angry over what they see as their security concerns being ignored by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

The UAE\u2019s ambassador to the United Nations told journalists on Monday that the Gulf state would not participate in offensive operations against Iran despite being one of the hardest hit countries and a relatively close partner to Israel.<\/p>\n

“We were one of the countries that constantly called for the need for a negotiation, the need for diplomacy, the need for de-escalation,” Jamal al-Musharakh said in Geneva.<\/p>\n

“And we have constantly informed that our territories would not be used for any attacks against Iran. Yet we are being targeted, frankly, in a very unwarranted manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Widening rift<\/h3>\n

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states lobbied US President Donald Trump not to launch a war on Iran because they feared the very attacks now unfolding on their energy-rich kingdoms.<\/p>\n

However, the Gulf states\u2019 diplomacy did not afford them protection. The UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar have been the hardest hit by Iranian drones and missiles, but Saudi Arabia has also come under attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully Gulf Cooperation Council countries will get more involved as this fight is in their backyard. If you are not willing to use your military now, when are you willing to use it?\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully this changes soon. If not, consequences will follow,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Gulf region is wary of inviting further attacks, including on critical assets such as water desalination plants and energy infrastructure. Iran has demonstrated its ability to conduct sophisticated strikes.<\/p>\n

While Gulf states are angry over the Iranian assaults, experts say they will be unwilling to enter a war they do not think the US can win. As the conflict enters its second week, the Islamic Republic and its institutions remain intact, with no signs of internal strife or an uprising as the US had predicted.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Iran\u2019s Assembly of Experts announced Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country’s new supreme leader, in a direct rebuke to Trump\u2019s call for Iran\u2019s total surrender.<\/p>\n

The war is already straining ties between the US and Arab Gulf states. Trump said last week that the devastating strikes on the US\u2019s richest partners had been his \u201cbiggest surprise\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnbelievable,\u201d a former US intelligence official told MEE previously, in response to Trump\u2019s comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s as if the US was operating and planning in a bubble for the last year. This is what Trump was warned of in conversations with Gulf rulers, and presumably his own intelligence briefings,\u201d the person added.<\/p>\n

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\nhttps:\/\/www.middleeasteye.net\/news\/lindsey-graham-threatens-saudi-arabia-if-they-do-not-join-war-iran<\/a><\/p>\n

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