US asked Saudi Arabia to send missile interceptors to Israel during Iran conflict. Riyadh refused

Defence affairs analysis

Saudi Arabia stood by while Israel suffered blows from Iranian missile strikes, and some observers say it might have preferred it that way

The US asked Saudi Arabia to turn over interceptors to help the US ally in need. But Riyadh's response was "no", two US officials familiar with the talks told Middle East Eye.

"During the war, we asked everyone to donate," one official told MEE. "When that didn't work, we tried deal-making. It wasn't aimed at one country."

But Saudi Arabia was well placed to help Israel, and US officials have been keen to emphasise that Iran is a threat to them as well as Israel. 

The US has already deployed air defence systems to the oil-rich Gulf state, which until recently was targeted by Houthi missile and drone attacks.

As Iran and Israel were fighting it out, the kingdom was preparing to receive the first THAAD battery it purchased with its own sovereign funds. In fact, the battery was inaugurated by the Saudi military on 3 July, just nine days after Israel and Iran reached a ceasefire.

Just before the inauguration, US officials were concerned that a massive Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel would drain the US stockpile of interceptors to a "horrendous level".

Middle East Eye was the first to report that Israel was rapidly depleting the US's stockpile of ballistic missile interceptors as well as Israel's arsenal of Arrow interceptors. The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian later confirmed MEE's report.

The Guardian later reported in July that after the conflict, the US was only left with about 25 percent of the Patriot missile interceptors that planners at the Pentagon assess are needed for all US military operations globally. A US official confirmed that classified number to MEE.

The US also fired the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) mounted on Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers to defend Israel.