2008 to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear program, according to US documents leaked by WikiLeaks and published Sunday. However, the leaked documents show that some other Saudi officials did not agree with the king and did not want a military attack on Iran, at least not right away.
According to the key leaked US cable, published by The New York Times, King Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz advocated war during an April 2008 meeting with US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and US General David Petraeus. “He told you to ‘cut off the head of the snake’,” Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, told the US embassy in Riyadh two days after the high-level talks, according to the State Department memo that related the message from the Saudi ambassador. “The King, Foreign Minister, Prince Muqrin, and Prince Nayif all agreed that the Kingdom needs to cooperate with the US on resisting and rolling back Iranian influence and subversion in Iraq,” the memo said. “
The King was particularly adamant on this point, and it was echoed by the senior princes as well. Al-Jubeir recalled the King’s frequent exhortations to the US to attack Iran and so put an end to its nuclear weapons program.” But the memo goes on to say other Saudi officials were more cautious about the need for military action, with Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abd al-Aziz pushing for sanctions. “The Foreign Minister, on the other hand, called instead for much more severe US and international sanctions on Iran, including a travel ban and further restrictions on bank lending,” the memo said. “Prince Muqrin echoed these views, emphasizing that some sanctions could be implemented without UN approval.
The Foreign Minister also stated that the use of military pressure against Iran should not be ruled out,” the memo said. The leaked memo could prove embarrassing to Saudi Arabia, which, while known to be nervous over Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program, has not publicly advocated any form of attack on Iran. In response to publication of the cable, the Saudi charge d’affaires in Tehran simply denied there was any truth to the US cable. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia rejects the news,” he told the Mehr news agency. “It is not the first time such issues are raised in the media.” He said the goal of those disseminating the false report was to undermine good relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the standard Middle Eastern response to embarrassing reports. The leaked documents showed other Arab leaders panting for war, but not wanting to be involved. Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed was quoted as far back as 2005 as expressing support for military action against Iran. In July 2009, he said, “Ahmadi-nejad is Hitler” and suggested it was dangerous to appease him. Bahraini King Hamed told US General David Petraeus in November 2009, “That [nuclear] All the leaks are fit to print US cables show Armenia sold arms to Iran, Damascus worried by Iran nuclear program, some in Europe thought Obama wanted to steal their Iranian business contracts, Pasdaran used Red Crescent ambulances to carry arms. program must be stopped.… The danger of letting it go is greater than the danger of stopping it.” Kuwaiti Interior Minister Jaber Khaled Al Sabah said in February 2010, “The US will not be able to avoid a military conflict with Iran, if it is serious in its intention to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapons capability.” Dubai’s ruler Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was a rare Arab leader opposing military action. In two 2007 cables, he was quoted as warning against the “dire” consequences for the region of military action. In the event the United States did not act and Iran built a nuclear capability, several Arab states said they would consider arming themselves with nuclear weapons or at least inviting nuclear powers to station their weapons on Arab territory. Except for Qatar, the Persian Gulf Arab governments were convinced that Iran was behind last year’s Huthi rebellion in northeast Yemen. American officials have said they do not see an Iranian hand there. Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Turki told the Americans the Huthis’ arms and funding were too good and their field techniques similar to Iranian-funded groups operating in Iraq.
