Iran's Foreign Minister's Message to Saudi Arabia: Now Is the Time to Expel US Troops
Tehran – Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated on Monday that the Saudi Arabian government must “expel” US forces from the kingdom’s territory. He made this remark three days after Iran’s military attacked a US airbase in Saudi Arabia.
“Iran respects the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and considers it a brother nation,” Araghchi wrote on the social media platform X. “Our operation targeted the enemy aggressor that does not respect Arabs or Iranians, and also cannot provide any security guarantees.”
“Just see what we did to their air command. It is time to oust the US forces.”
In his post, Araghchi also shared a photo of a US Air Force Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft split in two with its radar dome lying on the ground. Some media had previously reported that the aircraft was destroyed in the attack.
The US and Saudi Arabia have maintained a long-term partnership for over eight decades. There are five US military bases in the oil-rich nation, according to Militarybases.com, and approximately 2,700 US military personnel there, according to NewsNation.
On Friday, Iran’s missile attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia, injured 12 US military members, according to The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper reported that two service members suffered severe injuries, while 10 others experienced concussions.
The attack also damaged several US refuelling aircraft, and some unmanned aerial vehicles were hit, the Journal added.
US President Donald Trump stated last week in front of Saudi investors that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has recently begun approaching him. “He didn’t think that he’d be kissing my ass,” Trump said, implying an insult to the crown prince. He also half-threatingly asked the investors to tell the prince to behave well towards him.
In addition, in that speech in Miami, Trump boasted that Gulf states were originally set to join the war launched by the US-Israel against Iran. “Saudi Arabia joins the war, Qatar joins the war. UAE joins the war, Bahrain joins the war, and Kuwait joins the war,” Trump said.