Saudi Arabia orders Iranian military attache, four embassy staff to leave
Following repeated Iranian attacks, Saudi Foreign Ministry says more strikes will have ‘significant consequences’ for current and future relations
by Agencies and ToI Staff · The Times of IsraelSaudi Arabia informed Iran’s military attache, his assistant and three members of the embassy staff that they must leave the kingdom within 24 hours after being declared persona non grata, the Saudi foreign ministry said on Saturday, citing what it described as continued Iranian attacks on Saudi territory.
Saudi Arabia has come under attack by hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran, the vast majority of which have been intercepted, authorities said.
Early Sunday morning, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense said three ballistic missiles had been detected around the capital.
“One missile was intercepted, while the other two fell in an uninhabited area,” a spokesperson for the ministry posted on social media.
The ministry said in a statement that continued Iranian attacks would lead to further escalation and have “significant consequences” for current and future relations. It has repeatedly condemned the attacks, which have been aimed at places including Riyadh’s foreign embassy district as well as a refinery.
The war, which has seen Tehran attack Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, has also disrupted oil and natural gas exports from the Middle East and forced production stoppages.
Last week, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry ordered Iran’s military and security attaches, along with their staff, to leave the country within 24 hours, following an attack on that country’s massive natural gas facility.
On Wednesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said the kingdom reserved the right to act militarily against Iran.
“What little trust there was before has completely been shattered,” the Saudi diplomat said after a meeting between foreign ministers of the Gulf Arab states and others over the Iranian attacks.
“The attacks on my country and on my neighboring countries that are not involved in this conflict — that’s all I’m interested in,” Prince Faisal continued. “We’re going to use every lever we have — political, economic, diplomatic and otherwise — to get those attacks to stop.”
He criticized Iran’s attacks on Riyadh, which was hosting the meeting.
“I cannot see it as coincidental,” he said. “That’s the clearest signal of how Iran feels about diplomacy… It tries to pressure its neighbors, and that’s not going to work.”
Saudi Arabia and Iran re-established diplomatic ties in 2023 as part of an effort to calm tensions after years of enmity that saw them back opposing political and military factions in the region. During the same period, Israel has sought a normalization accord with Saudi Arabia.
Last week, The New York Times reported that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was speaking regularly with US President Donald Trump amid the war, and was urging him to continue attacking Iran harshly.
According to the report, which cited several unnamed officials, bin Salman conveyed advice previously given by Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah: to “cut off the head of the snake.”
That advice from Abdullah was contained in a trove of diplomatic cables that leaked in 2010, in which Gulf leaders were revealed to have urged more forceful American action against Iran’s nuclear program.