Fmr. Saudi Intelligence Chief Discusses Gulf States’ Reaction to Iran Attacks

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: I want to ask you about what appears to be some surprise in the region, maybe in Saudi Arabia, in Qatar, some anger about the response by Iran. This is what President Trump said yesterday. Take a listen.

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DONALD TRUMP: Amazingly, they’re hitting countries that were, you know, let’s call them neutral, right? They lived together for a long time. I think they were surprised. I was surprised. And now, those countries are all fighting against them and fighting strongly against them.

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AMANPOUR: From an intelligence point of view, I mean, Iran did basically say that it was going to hit out at these places that host, you know,

American bases and hold them responsible as well. Are you surprised at the extent of Iran’s retaliation?

TURKI AL-FAISAL: Well, I am surprised at the president’s surprise. Respectfully, I would recall that the crown prince and other Gulf leaders have been urging America not to undertake military action against Iran, because all of us believe that that action will not remain confined to Iran, that Iran will retaliate against American presence in the area, which is present in all of the Gulf states and as far away as Turkey, apparently. So, if he was surprised, I don’t think Saudi or other Gulf leaders were surprised. They’ve been warning the Americans not to undertake military action and suffer the consequences.

AMANPOUR: You know, for a long time, Saudi leaders and other Arab leaders in the Gulf states have told their people that you’re hosting American bases because it’s in your interest, because it will protect you as well. Now, you are being attacked, as Iran signaled you would be, and I don’t see much defense coming to you all. Yes, defense to Israel, but do you feel you are being defended? Is hosting American bases a long-term viable situation anymore, do you think? Can you all trust America and its defensive posture for you?

AL-FAISAL: Well, that’s why I can talk about what I see is happening in Saudi Arabia. That’s why Saudi Arabia has been trying to buttress and expand its military capabilities in order to be able to defend itself and developing a military industry in the kingdom so that we don’t have to go

to the outside world like America or Europe to purchase weapons and so on. But we also work with our Gulf state partners in order to try to form some kind of common command, and that’s been a long time coming, and I’m sure the present situation will hasten the formation of some kind of pan-Gulf defense command to protect the Gulf states.

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia, you know, in the last Trump administration back in 2019, if you remember, we were bombed by Iranian missiles at that time, and Mr. Trump at the time did not offer any support at that time. So, it is no surprise for the kingdom that he is not coming to our help, if you like, as far as I can see. I don’t know what is happening on official circles, but definitely the whole issue of more bloodshed and more destruction is anathema to the kingdom.

AMANPOUR: I want to ask you —

AL-FAISAL: The kingdom is on a course of social and industrial and commercial development. We want to continue on that route instead of having military conflicts in the area.

AMANPOUR: I want to ask you because, let’s face it, Saudi Arabia is the guardian of the Sunni faith, called the guardian of the two holy mosques. Iran is pretty much the guardian of the Shia faith. There is a clash between you two. Do you believe that the assassination of the so-called supreme leader can collapse the regime, collapse the raison d’etre? Do you believe that it can eventually lead to the uprising of people in Iran because Trump has moved back from regime change?

AL-FAISAL: Well, I would put it another way. You know, the kingdom has Shia citizens as well as Sunni citizens. Iran itself has Sunni citizens as well as Shia citizens. So, I would not put it so starkly as a difference between Sunni and Shia. But definitely, I don’t think that the system in Iran will collapse anytime soon.

As I said, the Iranian leadership has been preparing for an eventuality like this because of what they have continued to hear from Mr. Netanyahu in the past 40 years. He has been calling for the destruction of Iran, and so the Iranians obviously took note of that and have been preparing themselves for such an eventuality. And as we see in the news already, they’re in the process of electing a new so-called leader to succeed Khamenei. They’ve already set up an interim leadership of three personalities from the leadership. So, the system, I think, the only way that the system will go, I think, it will be through the Iranian people.