US President Donald Trump ordered airstrikes on Iran after weeks of lobbying by Israel and Saudi Arabia, a move that resulted in the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior officials within the first hour of the assault, The Washington Post reported, citing four people familiar with the deliberations.
According to the Post’s exclusive report, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman privately urged Trump in multiple phone calls over the past month to carry out military action against Iran, even as he publicly supported diplomatic engagement.
At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been openly pressing for a US strike, describing Iran as an existential threat to Israel.
The joint pressure campaign culminated in Saturday’s coordinated US airstrikes targeting Iran’s leadership and key military installations.
The scale and scope of the attack marked a significant departure from long-standing US policy, which for decades had avoided launching a full-scale military operation aimed at toppling the government of a country of more than 90 million people.
US intelligence assessments, cited by the Post, had concluded that Iran did not pose a direct military threat to the US mainland for at least the next decade.
Nonetheless, the administration proceeded with the operation.
The decision also contrasted with Trump’s previous military actions, which had generally been limited in scope.
The Saudi push for military action came even as Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner were engaged in talks with Iranian officials over Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs.
According to a senior administration official quoted by the Post, Witkoff and Kushner held their final meeting with Iranian representatives in Geneva on Thursday -- their third high-level session since early February -- but left with the impression that Tehran was evading key issues, particularly uranium enrichment.
Publicly, Riyadh had signaled caution.
Following a phone call between Crown Prince Mohammed and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Saudi Arabia issued a statement saying it would not allow its airspace or territory to be used for attacks on Iran.
Privately, however, the crown prince warned US officials that failing to strike now would embolden Tehran and increase future risks, the Post reported.
The Saudi position was reinforced by Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman, the crown prince’s brother, who during a closed-door meeting with US officials in Washington in January reportedly outlined the potential consequences of inaction.
People familiar with the Saudi leadership’s thinking told the Post that Riyadh’s approach was shaped by two primary concerns: avoiding direct Iranian retaliation against its oil infrastructure while simultaneously seeking to contain Tehran, its longstanding regional rival.
The Shia-majority Islamic Republic and the Sunni-led kingdom have been locked in a decades-long rivalry that has fueled proxy conflicts across the Middle East.
Iran did retaliate following the initial US strikes, targeting Saudi Arabia.
In response, Riyadh issued a statement condemning the attack and urging the international community to take “necessary and decisive action” against Iran.
The Saudi embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
In explaining the strikes, Trump invoked decades of hostility between Washington and Tehran, framing the operation as retribution for past attacks.
He cited the 1979 seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran, the 1983 bombing of US Marines in Beirut by Iran-backed Hezbollah, and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump described the situation as an “imminent threat” posed by the Iranian regime, alleging that Tehran was continuing to develop nuclear weapons and long-range missiles capable of reaching the US mainland.
Those claims have been contested.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has previously said it had found no evidence that Iran resumed active efforts to build a nuclear weapon following earlier strikes.
A US Defense Intelligence Agency assessment last year also concluded there was no indication that Iran had begun developing intercontinental ballistic missiles and that any such capability would take at least a decade to achieve.
With the strikes underway and Iran’s leadership decapitated, questions now centre on what comes next.
Trump said he hopes Iranian security forces will “peacefully rejoin the Iranian patriots” and help restore stability.
He also warned that the targeted bombing campaign would continue “for weeks, or longer if necessary,” until what he described as the goal of establishing peace in the Middle East is achieved.
