The Prime Minister and Crown Prince of the Saudi throne, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), reportedly called the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to avoid a large scale military attack against Iran, requesting the de-escalation of the crisis.
According to a report by Axios, which cites two American officials and one additional source with knowledge of the conversation, MBS expressed his intense concern over American plans that allegedly include strikes against energy infrastructure in Iran.
This information comes at the moment when Washington is considering various military scenarios, while Tehran continues to resist American pressure and to warn that it will respond dynamically to any new attack.
So far, Donald Trump has not given the final order for the operations, however the possibility of targeting refineries, power generation stations, and other energy facilities causes concern over an even greater escalation of the conflict.
Riyadh requests clarifications from Washington
According to Axios, the Saudi leadership requested that the American government clarify its intentions.
"The Saudis expressed their concern and requested a clear picture of the action plan," an American official told Axios.
A second source reported that Mohammed bin Salman personally called Donald Trump to avoid further military escalation and not to proceed with the planned strikes.
Tehran warns of decisive response
The diplomatic contacts are taking place while Tehran announces that any new American or Israeli attack will be met with an immediate military response.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, informed his Saudi counterpart that his country is ready to defend its sovereignty, its territorial integrity, and its national security.
At the same time, he warned that any military action by the United States or Israel, as well as any cooperation of regional states in such operations, will trigger a "decisive and proportional response" from the Iranian armed forces.
The statement was made within the framework of a telephone communication between the two ministers, as fears of new American strikes increase.
Abbas Araghchi also had discussions with Turkish and Pakistani officials, among whom was the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who is participating in mediation efforts between Tehran and Washington.
The response will not be limited to the Persian Gulf
At the same time, the spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament, Ebrahim Rezaei, warned that any response from Tehran will not be geographically limited to the Persian Gulf.
"Our response to any hostile attack will not be limited to the region of the Persian Gulf," he noted in a post on platform X, adding that Iran will strike "every hostile base and every point from where the attack will originate".
These statements followed reports according to which Washington and Tel Aviv are considering the possibility of attacks against Iranian energy facilities, including power stations and refineries.
According to CBS News, if such an operation is approved, it will constitute one of the most serious escalations of the conflict to date. Indeed, American officials are reportedly considering the possibility of the strikes taking place before the opening of international financial markets, in order to limit economic disruptions.
Why Riyadh presses for de-escalation
Beyond the geopolitical dimension, the stance of Mohammed bin Salman is directly connected to the massive economic interests at stake in a generalized conflict with Iran and the leverage it has over US markets through the petrodollar and the holding of American assets.
Saudi Arabia finds itself today at the center of an unprecedented investment program.
The Vision 2030 plan foresees investments of hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure, technology, tourism, industry, artificial intelligence, and renewable energy sources. To succeed, the kingdom needs an environment of stability, low geopolitical risk, and secure maritime trade routes.
At the same time, economic relations between Riyadh and Washington remain extremely strong.
Saudi Arabia continues to hold significant positions in American government securities and other financial assets, while Saudi investment funds maintain a significant presence in the American economy.
In recent years, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia has significantly expanded its investments in the United States, while at the same time investment commitments of hundreds of billions of dollars have been announced in sectors such as artificial intelligence, data centers, the aerospace industry, semiconductors, infrastructure, and defense. At the same time, the two countries continue to cooperate in major arms programs and recently proceeded with an agreement for the development of the Saudi civil nuclear program with American technology.
Precisely for this reason, a generalized war in the Persian Gulf would have a severe economic cost for both sides. It would threaten investments, skyrocket energy prices, burden international markets, and create uncertainty for the major development plans of Riyadh.
The devaluation of the American security umbrella
At the same time, however, Saudi Arabia follows an increasingly multidimensional foreign policy.
Its cooperation with Russia within the framework of OPEC+ has evolved into a key tool for coordinating the global oil market, as the two largest exporters jointly influence production and international prices.
At the same time, China has emerged as the largest trading partner of Saudi Arabia. Chinese investments are expanding into ports, industrial zones, telecommunications, digital infrastructure, and projects of Vision 2030, while Beijing played a decisive role also in the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The picture being formed is different from that of the previous decade. Riyadh does not seek to replace the United States with Russia or China, but to balance among the major powers, maintaining at the same time open economic and political channels with all.
This explains also the intervention of Mohammed bin Salman toward Donald Trump.
The appeal for restraint is dictated not only by fears for regional security, but also by the need to protect a massive web of investments, trade relations, and financial interests that would be endangered by a large scale war.
This stance reflects a deeper strategic shift.
Saudi Arabia continues to consider the United States its most important military partner, however it no longer considers it a given that the American "security umbrella" is sufficient on its own to guarantee the stability of the kingdom. For this reason it seeks a polycentric system of balances, where security, the economy, and diplomacy will rely on multiple partners and not exclusively on Washington.
Saudi Arabia's shift to China and Russia
The intervention of Mohammed bin Salman does not constitute merely a diplomatic initiative to avoid another war in the Middle East. It reflects a deeper shift in the strategy of Saudi Arabia, which in recent years attempts to acquire greater strategic autonomy and to limit its absolute dependence on the United States.
For more than seventy years, the security of the Saudi kingdom relied on the so-called "American security umbrella".
Washington guaranteed the protection of the monarchy and oil facilities, while Riyadh ensured the stability of the global oil market and the preservation of the dollar as the dominant currency in energy transactions.
However, in recent years this relationship has changed noticeably.
The American withdrawal from Afghanistan, the limited reaction of Washington to the attacks against the facilities of Aramco in 2019, as well as the gradual shift of American strategic interest toward Asia have created serious concerns in Riyadh regarding the reliability of American protection.
Within this environment, Saudi Arabia has adopted a more multidimensional foreign policy.
The restoration of diplomatic relations with Iran, with the mediation of China in 2023, constituted a turning point.
At the same time, Riyadh strengthened its cooperation with Beijing in the sectors of energy, investments, technology, and infrastructure, while maintaining close cooperation with Russia through the OPEC+ framework, where the two countries coordinate their oil policy.
This choice does not mean that Saudi Arabia abandons its strategic relationship with the United States. On the contrary, it seeks to balance among the major powers, avoiding being exclusively dependent on only one side.
The stance of Mohammed bin Salman toward the crisis with Iran captures precisely this new strategy.
For Riyadh, a generalized conflict would put at risk energy exports, the ambitious program of economic transformation Vision 2030, as well as the massive foreign investments it seeks to attract.
At the same time, the leadership of Saudi Arabia realizes that the new international reality is characterized by a multipolar competition, in which China is evolving into the country's most important trading partner, while Russia remains a key ally in managing the oil market.
Under these circumstances, the traditional American "security shield" is no longer considered sufficient on its own. Riyadh seeks to create a more flexible system of balances, in which it will maintain cooperative relations both with Washington and with Beijing and Moscow.
This stance constitutes perhaps the most significant geopolitical shift in the Middle East after the Cold War: regional powers no longer choose exclusively one camp, but attempt to leverage the competition of major powers for the benefit of their own national interests.
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