Saudi Arabia urges US attack on Iran to stop nuclear programme

 King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear programme, according to leaked US diplomatic cables that describe how other Arab allies have secretly agitated for military action against Tehran.

The revelations, in secret memos from US embassies across the Middle East, expose behind-the-scenes pressures in the scramble to contain the Islamic Republic, which the US, Arab states and Israel suspect is close to acquiring nuclear weapons. Bombing Iranian nuclear facilities has hitherto been viewed as a desperate last resort that could ignite a far wider war.

The Saudi king was recorded as having "frequently exhorted the US to attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear weapons programme", one cable stated. "He told you [Americans] to cut off the head of the snake," the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir said, according to a report on Abdullah's meeting with the US general David Petraeus in April 2008.

The cables also highlight Israel's anxiety to preserve its regional nuclear monopoly, its readiness to go it alone against Iran – and its unstinting attempts to influence American policy. The defence minister, Ehud Barak, estimated in June 2009 that there was a window of "between six and 18 months from now in which stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons might still be viable". After that, Barak said, "any military solution would result in unacceptable collateral damage."

The leaked US cables also reveal that:

• Officials in Jordan and Bahrain have openly called for Iran's nuclear programme to be stopped by any means, including military.

• Leaders in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt referred to Iran as "evil", an "existential threat" and a power that "is going to take us to war".

• Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, warned in February that if diplomatic efforts failed, "we risk nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, war prompted by an Israeli strike, or both".

• Major General Amos Yadlin, Israeli's military intelligence chief, warned last year: "Israel is not in a position to underestimate Iran and be surprised like the US was on 11 September 2001."
Read More: Saudi Arabia urges US attack on Iran to stop nuclear programme

Saudi Arabia urges US attack on Iran to stop nuclear programme

WikiLeaks documents send shock waves around the globe

A massive document dump – more than 250,000 U.S diplomatic cables made public Sunday by WikiLeaks – sent shock waves around the globe as the Obama administration coped with the fallout of revelations ranging from stunning to salacious as its policies and methods of dealing with friends and foes were embarrassingly laid bare.
The trove reveals candid assessments of foreign leaders, secret details of the global anti-terrorist campaign and embarrassing details of American diplomats gathering sordid details of the sex lives of foreign leaders.
Canada barely rates a mention, so far. The documents were apparently stolen earlier by someone inside the U.S. government with the security clearance and the computer access to classified files.
Among the revelations in the secret diplomatic messages: America’s close Arab allies have urged it to strike Iran – by bombing nuclear sites and decapitating the ruling Islamic theocracy; cyberwarriors from China’s communist politburo have attacked U.S. government computer networks.
“Cut off the head of the snake," King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia said, referring to Tehran, a call to arms he has repeatedly made to both the Bush and Obama administrations. It was a bellicose call, one echoed by Egyptian and other Arab leaders who regard the rising Iranian power across the gulf as an ``existential threat.”
Read More: WikiLeaks documents send shock waves around the globe

WikiLeaks documents send shock waves around the globe

Analysis: Wikileaks expose hidden Gulf views on Iran

 The disclosure in leaked U.S. cables that Gulf Arab leaders want Washington to destroy Iran's nuclear programme exposes long-hidden views that will kill any chance of detente with Tehran.

From Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, to tiny Bahrain, Gulf Arab rulers revealed a reality they had spent years trying to hide publicly.

The views in the cables released by the WikiLeaks website contrast with the public stance of those Sunni rulers whose statements on their religious rivals in Shi'ite Iran and its nuclear programme have until now been far more conciliatory.

The revelations, however, do confirm the depth of suspicion and hatred of the Shi'ites among Sunni Arab leaders, especially in Saudi Arabia, the leading Sunni power and which regards Iran as an existential threat.

That concern was intensified by the rise of the Shi'ites in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 -- the first time the Shi'ites have controlled an Arab heartland country for nearly a millennium.

For Sunni Gulf rulers, seeing Iraq fall under Shi'ite influence was shocking enough, but the fear of a nuclear Iran is something they find even more alarming.
Read More: Analysis: Wikileaks expose hidden Gulf views on Iran

Analysis: Wikileaks expose hidden Gulf views on Iran