Saudi Crown Prince MBS Secretly Lobbied Trump to Attack Iran

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made multiple private phone calls to President Trump over the past month advocating a US military attack on Iran, despite publicly supporting a diplomatic solution, the Washington Post reports citing four sources familiar with the matter. The revelation upends Saudi Arabia's public posture as a neutral party and shows that Riyadh was a key driver behind the decision to launch Operation Epic Fury. After Iran's retaliatory strikes hit Gulf states, MBS held follow-up calls with leaders of the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Jordan to discuss the fallout.