Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies basked on Wednesday in what they saw as a political victory over Iran, their rival for regional influence, after Washington withdrew from the international nuclear accord with Tehran, APA reports quoting Reuters.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain swiftly backed U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to reimpose sanctions on Tehran, reflecting their concern about Iran’s ballistic missile program and support for militant groups.
“Paris and London may not like Trump’s decision, but how would the French or British feel if their capital cities came under direct threat by the Iranians?” editor-in-chief Faisal Abbas wrote in Saudi Arabia’s English-language Arab News daily next to a headline that read: “The deal is dead.”
In a coffee shop, Saudi businessman Ziad said the kingdom’s leadership was correct to challenge a deal that had eased sanctions in exchange for Tehran taking measures that would prevent it being able to make a nuclear weapon.
“Every couple of days, we have missiles coming from Yemen and we see evidence that they are made by Iran ... It is interfering in Syria, Yemen, Morocco. Other countries may accept that, but here in Saudi Arabia we don’t,” he said.
An hour later, at least four loud blasts rocked Riyadh. Authorities said they had intercepted two ballistic missiles fired from Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting to oust the Iran-aligned Houthi movement from the capital and large parts of the country.
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