Saudi Arabia Denies Reports It Lobbied Trump To Attack Iran

Saudi Arabia on Monday underscored that it has been consistent in "supporting diplomatic efforts" to reach a dead with Iran, disputing media reports that the wide-ranging attack on Iran was a weeks-long lobbying effort by the country.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, died in US and Israeli airstrikes on Saturday. The news was confirmed by Iran state media.

It was the first US military action of this scale apparently aimed at toppling a foreign government since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"The Kingdom of #Saudi Arabia has been consistent in supporting diplomatic efforts to reach a credible deal with Iran. At no point in all our communication with the Trump Administration did we lobby the President to adopt a different policy," Fahad Nazer, Spokesperson for the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC, said in a post on X.

The Kingdom of #Saudi Arabia has been consistent in supporting diplomatic efforts to reach a credible deal with Iran. At no point in all our communication with the Trump Administration did we lobby the President to adopt a different policy. https://t.co/JIUHp0drw2

— Fahad Nazer فهد ناظر (@KSAEmbassySpox) March 2, 2026

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made multiple private phone calls to US President Donald Trump last month pushing for a strike on Iran despite favouring diplomacy publicly, the Washington Post had reported.

After the strikes, Iran launched retaliatory attacks on the UAE's Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Qatar's Doha, and Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, plunging the Middle East into a new conflict.

Trump's envoys had negotiated in Geneva on Thursday with Iran's foreign minister.

Trump said that Iran's leaders had not compromised sufficiently on its disputed nuclear programme, although he made clear after the attack that the goal was regime change and not a nuclear deal.

The attack came weeks after Iranian authorities ruthlessly put down mass protests, killing thousands.

Three members of the US military have been killed and five others seriously wounded in the operation against Iran, the Pentagon said.

The decision to launch the attack was in some ways foretold by the massive buildup of US forces over the past two months.

The 86-year-old cleric was killed after decades of trading threats and, more recently, missiles with Israel and the US. Satellite images showed the secure compound in downtown Tehran where his residence and offices had been, reduced to a gray mass. Four members of his family, including his daughter and a grandchild, were also killed.

Iran's judiciary confirmed that Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Khamenei, and General Mohammad Pakpour, the head of Revolutionary Guards, were among those killed.