Saudi crown prince reportedly urges Trump not to escalate Iran war as US leader weighs new strikes

WASHINGTON (AP): Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader, in a phone call with President Donald Trump on Saturday raised concerns about the U.S. potentially escalating the conflict with Iran, according to a person familiar with the leaders’ discussion.

The discussion, which was first reported on by the news outlet Axios, comes as Trump weighs whether to carry out new strikes on Iran.

The Saudis, according to the person briefed on the substance of the call but not authorized to comment publicly, are concerned that if the U.S. targets Iran’s energy infrastructure or carries out massive strikes on other key infrastructure that Tehran could respond by carrying out attacks on the kingdom’s and other Gulf countries’ energy infrastructure.


The crown prince during Saturday’s call sought clarity from Trump on what potential new action he’s weighing to take against Iran, the person said.

A White House official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity, confirmed the leaders spoke on Saturday but did not offer any detail about the substance of their conversation.

Saudi Arabia earlier this week joined the U.S. in striking multiple logistics and weapons sites used by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, but has been urging the U.S. and Iran to get back to the negotiating table to find an endgame to the five-month old conflict.
The crown prince also dispatched his brother, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, to Washington earlier this week for separate meetings with Trump and Vice President JD Vance to discuss Iran strategy.

The stakes for continued U.S. military action are high for Trump and his party as the conflict, unpopular among many Americans, has jolted the world economy just months before critical midterm elections in November.

The president has vowed to take retaliatory action after the U.S. military thwarted a surprise attack earlier this week by Iran on a U.S. base in Jordan.

Trump had told reporters on Friday that “we just want to win” in Iran and said the U.S. will hit Iran “very hard” until they can’t take it anymore. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed frustration that Tehran had last month signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. on a truce but then quickly “broke it, shot at commercial ships, and killed American soldiers.”
On Saturday, the U.S. State Department issued new security alerts for Americans in 10 countries in the region to exercise heightened caution due to the escalating tensions with Iran.

The warnings — covering Bahrain, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates — urged U.S. citizens to prepare for the possibility of flight cancellations, temporary airspace closures and other travel disruptions.