Saudis Will Give Israelis a Pass to Attack Iran

The Saudis clearly don't care any more for the Iranians than do the Israelis.

Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal.

In the week that the UN Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran, defence sources in the Gulf say that Riyadh has agreed to allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran.

To ensure the Israeli bombers pass unmolested, Riyadh has carried out tests to make certain its own jets are not scrambled and missile defence systems not activated. Once the Israelis are through, the kingdom’s air defences will return to full alert.

“The Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way,” said a US defence source in the area. “They have already done tests to make sure their own jets aren’t scrambled and no one gets shot down. This has all been done with the agreement of the [US] State Department.”

Sources in Saudi Arabia say it is common knowledge within defence circles in the kingdom that an arrangement is in place if Israel decides to launch the raid. Despite the tension between the two governments, they share a mutual loathing of the regime in Tehran and a common fear of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “We all know this. We will let them [the Israelis] through and see nothing,” said one.

The real question is not what the Saudis will or will not do, but what will our forces do? Under Bush I doubt there would have been any questions that our forces in Iraq and the Persian Gulf would stand by and allow an attack to proceed. Who knows, we might even have provided logistical support such as refueling or air defense.

With Obama in the White House and his well known dislike for Israel, I'd half expect him to order us to shoot down Israeli aircraft approaching US air defense zones.