Since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran on 28 February 2026, Saudi Arabia has largely tried to remain uninvolved. However, after facing attacks from three directions, the kingdom has taken joint military action with the US against Iranian proxy militias in Iraq, believed to be responsible for drone attacks on Saudi territory.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince has been guiding the country under the Vision 2030 initiative, aiming for broad national development. Despite a 2022 uneasy truce and reported payoffs to the Houthis, a Yemeni tribal group allied with Iran that seized much of Yemen in 2014, Saudi Arabia now confronts renewed threats from drone and missile attacks originating from its southern neighbor as well as attacks from Iraq to the north.

The conflict in the Gulf and wider Middle East involves two main sides: Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), allied with the Houthis, and their adversaries including Saudi Arabia. Iran retaliated against US and Israeli attacks in February by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route through which 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passes.

Saudi Arabia now faces a dilemma: whether to persist with military strikes as a deterrent or to pursue de-escalation, potentially through negotiations or payments to adversaries.

Sources