Washington (Somalia Today) – US Senator Lindsey Graham on Monday publicly threatened Saudi Arabia over its refusal to join the US-Israeli war on Iran, laying bare a widening rift with Washington’s Gulf Arab partners.
The Gulf nations have come under Iranian fire but still insist they do not want to be pulled into a broader regional conflict.
Graham, one of President Donald Trump’s closest foreign policy allies and a vocal Iran hawk, accused Riyadh of refusing to use its military in what he sees as a shared effort to break the Islamic Republic.
In a post on X, he questioned whether Washington should pursue a long-sought defence arrangement with a country unwilling to join what he called a “fight of mutual interest.”
He warned that “consequences” would follow if the kingdom’s stance did not change.
Mounting US casualties
His intervention came after the Pentagon identified Sergeant Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, as the seventh US service member to die in the conflict.
Pennington died from wounds he suffered during a March 1 Iranian retaliatory strike on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
The latest US death has intensified pressure inside Washington for a tougher regional response.
But it also underscored the bind facing Gulf monarchies, whose territories host US military assets while remaining vulnerable to devastating retaliation from Tehran.
Saudi Arabia has tried to balance deterrence with restraint.
The kingdom on Monday condemned Iranian attacks on its territory and said it reserved the right to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty, citizens and critical facilities.
However, Riyadh had also warned Tehran on Friday that it still favoured a diplomatic settlement, saying it would respond in kind only if attacks on its energy infrastructure continued.
Diplomacy over escalation
That cautious line has run through the Gulf since before the war began.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Egypt had urged Trump to hold off on striking Iran, warning that military action could destabilise the region and hit the global economy.
Since the US-Israeli assault began on February 28, Gulf officials have argued that their priority is defending their own cities, oil installations, ports, and airspace.
They have stressed that they are not signing up for an open-ended campaign whose political end state remains unclear.
The United Arab Emirates made that position explicit on Monday.
Its ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Jamal al-Musharakh, said Abu Dhabi would not take part in attacks on Iran.
He repeatedly made clear that UAE territory would not be used for such operations, and he called for de-escalation even as his country faced repeated missile and drone attacks.
Two days earlier, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed acknowledged the region was in a time of war but insisted his country was “no easy prey.”
Old wounds, new caution
Analysts say Gulf capitals are acting out of cold calculation rather than softness toward Tehran.
While Iranian strikes on Gulf ports and cities risk pushing Arab states closer to Washington, leaders fear a prolonged conflict would devastate vital shipping lanes, gas exports, financial centres, and energy markets.
Gulf capitals may be furious at being targeted, yet they also know they sit on the front line of any prolonged war.
Saudi Arabia’s strategic memory also runs deep.
In September 2019, Iranian-linked attacks on Aramco facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais briefly knocked out about 5.7 million barrels a day of Saudi oil production, exposing the kingdom’s vulnerability to precision strikes.
Four years later, Riyadh and Tehran restored diplomatic relations in a China-brokered deal, part of a broader Gulf effort to lower regional tensions even without resolving core rivalries.
‘Unconditional surrender’
Those instincts for preservation have only hardened as the current war expands.
Trump has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” insisting the conflict will end only when Tehran no longer has a functioning military or leadership.
But the swift elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader after his father’s killing has rallied Iran’s hardliners rather than opened a clear path to collapse.
For Gulf rulers, the succession deepens doubts that outside air power can quickly deliver a stable political outcome in Tehran.
Graham’s broadside therefore lands heavily against the regional grain.
Few figures in Trump’s orbit pushed more forcefully for strikes on Iran than the South Carolina senator.
Yet his threat risks alienating one of the vital partners Washington depends on for regional basing, air defence coordination, and energy stability.
It also comes despite the depth of US-Saudi military ties, which a nearly $142 billion US defence package strengthened last year.
What Graham framed as allied hesitation may simply reflect a refusal by Gulf capitals to let their survival be subordinated to Washington’s war aims.
