Saudi Arabia has stepped up its direct engagement with Iran in a bid to try and contain the war in the Middle East, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing several European officials.
According to the officials, Saudi officials have in recent days deployed their diplomatic backchannel to Iran with greater urgency to de-escalate tensions and prevent the conflict from worsening.
Several European and Middle Eastern nations are backing these efforts, the officials told Bloomberg.
Saudi Arabia is among the countries in the Middle East to have been targeted by Iran after Israel and the US launched joint strikes on the Islamic Republic last Saturday.
The Washington Post reported, soon after the start of the strikes on Iran, that President Donald Trump launched the attack on Iran after a weeks-long lobbying effort by the leaders of Israel and Saudi Arabia.
According to the sources, the Saudi Crown Prince made multiple private phone calls to Trump over the past month advocating a US attack, in contrast to his public calls for a diplomatic solution.
Saudi Arabia vehemently denied the report, with a spokesperson for the Saudi embassy in Washington writing, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been consistent in supporting diplomatic efforts to reach a credible deal with Iran."
“At no point in all our communication with the Trump Administration did we lobby the President to adopt a different policy," he added.
Bin Salman had told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in late January that Saudi Arabia would not permit its airspace or territory to be used for any military action against Iran.
During a phone call between the two, the Crown Prince emphasized Riyadh’s support for “efforts that would resolve differences through dialogue" in order to strengthen regional security and stability.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)