Saudi Arabia and Iran are crushing decades of hostility with unprecedented joint military exercises

A year ago, Saudi Arabia and Israel were on the cusp of a normalization deal that would have realigned the Middle East and further isolated Iran.

This week, Saudi Arabia and Iran held their first-ever joint naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman, their ministries revealed, in what appears to be a sign of rapprochement between the old regional foes.

“The Royal Saudi Naval Forces had recently completed a joint naval exercise with the Iranian Navy, along with other countries in the Sea of ​​Oman,” Saudi Armed Forces spokesman Turki al-Malki confirmed to French news channel AFP.

He added that no other exercises will be conducted during this period.

Shiite Muslim-dominated Iran and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia cut ties in 2016 and have long backed opposing sides in regional conflicts. They resumed relations last year in a China-brokered deal, even as the US hoped to draw them into an Abraham Accords-style deal that would normalize their relationship with Tehran’s biggest enemy, Israel.

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Iran claimed that it was Saudi Arabia that organized the exercises.

“Saudi Arabia has requested that we organize joint exercises in the Red Sea,” Iranian Navy Commander Admiral Shahram Irani told ISNA.

The US has military facilities and troops stationed in Saudi Arabia. The US conducted a large-scale logistics exercise together with the Royal Saudi Armed Forces and the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces in May.

“It’s hard not to exaggerate the significance of this. It is as if the US and Russia were conducting a joint military exercise,” wrote Iranian-born commentator Hooman Majd on X, formerly Twitter.

Other experts said the exercises only proved that the kingdom fears Tehran.

“The Saudis are concerned that they are caught between (Iran and Israel),” Meir Javedanfar, an Iran lecturer at Reichman University in Tel Aviv, told Fox News Digital, adding that they participated in the naval exercises to “not be seen to be like taking Israeli side.”

“Behind closed doors, the Saudis remain deeply suspicious of Iran’s policies, especially in Yemen.”

“I would see this more as a ‘hedge your bets’ situation,” said Victoria Coates, deputy national security adviser during the Trump administration.

“They are concerned about whether or not the US will be robust in its defense of the kingdom in the event that the Iranians, in retaliation for what Israel may or may not do, target them.”

“Built into the original Iranian charter is the claim that the House of Saud is the illegitimate custodian of the two mosques, and that they should be in Shia hands. So fundamentally the two cannot play in the same sandbox,” she added. , referring to the two holiest places in Islam, Mecca and Medina, both under the control of Saudi Arabia.

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This week’s drills came after Iran last week conducted naval exercises with Russia and Oman in the Indian Ocean, with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Thailand participating as observers in the drills.

In Yemen, a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Iran-backed Houthis since 2015. The US has stepped up its efforts. attacks on Houthi positions in Yemen in recent weeks, after Houthis terrorized Red Sea shipping lanes over the past year.

The original draft of a Saudi normalization deal with Israel paid little attention to the Palestinian cause. With Saudi Arabia demanding a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas, the kingdom insists it will not normalize relations with Israel without a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

President Joe Biden’s team had been working on a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal when Hamas launched its attack on October 7. Many believe the attack was primarily intended to thwart efforts to broker such an agreement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to insist that he can conclude negotiations with Riyadh – but only after the presidential elections.

Are American allies who helped mediate the Abraham Accords Agreements Like the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco have long held out hope, despite Israel’s bloody offensives to root out Hamas in Gaza and push back Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that we can get this done,” Sen. said. Lindsey Graham, RS.C.

Saudi Arabia, Graham argued, may be the only hope for a post-war Gaza.

“Israel cannot occupy Gaza,” he said. “The only viable solution here for permanent security, for Israel and stability and peace is for Saudi Arabia and the UAE to rebuild Gaza and reform the (Palestinian Authority) in a way that will provide better governance to the Palestinian people, will eliminate corruption, radicalize the school system and provide security buffers to Israel.”

The military exercises came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Riyadh earlier this month – where he reportedly threatened their oil facilities if Israel attacked Iranian oil.

Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the Saudi royal court, said: “The Iranians have stated: ‘If the Gulf states open their airspace to Israel, it would be an act of war.'”

The Saudis, in turn, urged the US to beg Israel not to attack Iranian oil facilities in response to the 200 missiles it rained on Tel Aviv on October 1, a US source confirmed to Reuters.

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