Saudi Arabia leads Gulf efforts to dissuade Washington from striking Iran

Saudi Arabia is leading a Gulf initiative, joined by Qatar and Oman, to dissuade the White House from launching a military strike against Iran, the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The newspaper said Saudi Arabia fears that any escalation would harm its economy and, more importantly, trigger negative reactions at home, especially if Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei were to be killed. Arab states are also concerned that strikes on Iran could disrupt oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz. This narrow waterway, at the entrance to the Gulf, separates Iran from its Arab neighbours and carries about one fifth of global oil shipments. READ: Israeli media: Prospects for normalisation with Saudi Arabia continue to fade […]