Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman reportedly told US officials in a private meeting in Washington on Friday that the Iranian regime would be emboldened should US President Donald Trump refrain from ordering an attack on the Islamic Republic.
“At this point, if this doesn’t happen, it will only embolden the regime,” the defense minister was quoted as saying by the Axios news site.
While a source familiar with the meeting confirmed to The Times of Israel that these comments were made, the source said they should be understood in the context of urging the US to have a clear plan and objectives of what it wanted to achieve in Iran.
The source said that bin Salman also emphasized that bombing Iran without a clear plan would only make things worse.
Bin Salman’s comments appear to indicate a divergence from the more cautious position toward a US strike on Iran previously held by the Saudis amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran.
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Similar comments were made by another Gulf official at a meeting on Friday, who said a US strike risked “bad outcomes” but no strike would lead to “Iran [coming out of this] stronger.”
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for the premiere of her movie “Melania” at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, January 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Responding to an X post on the report, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote: “The Saudi boys ought to know.”
The Saudi boys ought to know
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) January 31, 2026
According to the report, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in recent days that the kingdom would not permit US forces to use Saudi airspace for an attack, and Saudi officials have reiterated their preference for a diplomatic solution.
The Saudi wariness of a US strike reportedly drove Trump to delay the action.
Axios reported that the briefing where the Saudi defense minister made his comments was attended by roughly 15 Middle East experts and representatives from five Jewish organizations, following high-level meetings at the White House with senior US officials earlier in the week.
According to Axios, bin Salman left Washington uncertain about the Trump administration’s ultimate intentions toward Iran.
On Friday, Trump said he had given Iran a deadline to make a deal, without revealing the timeline of that deadline.
The United States Navy destroyer USS Delbert D. Black docks at the Port of Eilat, southern Israel, January 30, 2026. (Yehuda Ben Itach/Flash90)
“Iran always wants to make a deal. But what kind of deal do you want to make is the problem. What kind of deal does Iran want to make and what kind of deal will the US accept? That’s a very good question, and we don’t see it coming together at this point,” a Gulf official told Axios.
Trump’s comments came as the US has moved significant military assets to the Middle East.
US officials say Trump is reviewing his options but has not decided whether to strike Iran.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if Iran continued to kill protesters in its crackdown on the countrywide demonstrations over economic privations and political repression, but the protests have since abated.
The US has said a deal with Iran will have to include a ban on uranium enrichment in Iran, the removal of already-enriched uranium from Iran, a cap on Iran’s stockpile of long-range missiles and a rollback of Iran’s support for proxies in the region — all terms that Tehran has said it will not accept.
The Axios report also said that the Saudi defense minister deflected criticism at the meeting that Riyadh was pivoting away from Israel and toward the Muslim Brotherhood.
“He said several times that it was nonsense. The more he said it, the less reassuring it sounded,” one participant at the meeting told Axios.
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