Saudi Arabia’s Strange War: Appease Iran, Rebuff Israel

Nearly 50 years ago, Jimmy Carter readied tactical nukes to stop Soviet forces from seizing revolutionary Iran and the Gulf’s oil crown. Gulf regimes have since hidden behind America’s shield, which liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991. But as US interest in the region waned, some Gulf nations rushed to embrace muscular Israel to confront their shared enemy: Islamic Iran. Saudi-Israeli normalization once seemed all but inevitable, until Tehran unleashed a barrage of missiles on Saudi energy sites. Riyadh’s response? It cowered in silence and begged Iran for mercy.