Saudi Arabia's frustration with the United States over the Iran conflict has spilled into the open, with officials and analysts accusing Washington of dragging Gulf states into a war they fought to prevent.
"Hvylya" reports, citing the Financial Times, that there is growing anger in Riyadh over the toll the US-Israeli offensive against Iran has taken on the kingdom and its neighbors.
Aziz Alghashian, a lecturer of international relations at Riyadh's Naif Arab University for Security Sciences, put it bluntly: "The United States is here to not only make the Gulf states live with the ramifications of their war, but they're doing Netanyahu's war."
A person familiar with Riyadh's thinking said there was annoyance with the Trump administration and Israel for drawing Saudi Arabia into a conflict that Gulf states had warned would have severe consequences. Despite this, the person said Riyadh was "not unhappy" with Washington's defense support and was receiving American missile interceptors, though supply was strained by demand from other Gulf states and Israel.
The tension underscores deeper concerns about US President Donald Trump's transactional and unpredictable approach to the region. Bernard Haykel, a professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University who speaks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said Gulf leaders were under no illusions. "They all knew he's a transactional, unpredictable person," Haykel said. "Are they happy about that, no? But what can they do? He's the American president."
Washington and Riyadh signed a defense pact when Trump hosted Prince Mohammed at the White House in November. Yet the bonhomie between the two leaders has not shielded the kingdom from Iranian missiles and drones striking its bases, oil facilities and the US embassy in its capital.
Also read: Gulf States and Turkey Refuse to Share the Burden: Friedman Explains Why.