Small Wars Journal

Why Would Iran Raise the Stakes by Attacking Saudi Arabia?

Fri, 09/20/2019 - 12:13am

Why Would Iran Raise the Stakes by Attacking Saudi Arabia? By Kasra Naji – BBC News

Saudi Arabia says it has evidence showing Iran sponsored Saturday's drone and missile attacks on two of its oil facilities, and called on the international community to take action. The question is whether there could be a war.

The scale of the attacks means that Saudi Arabia cannot overlook what happened, and its decision to identify Iran as the culprit compels the kingdom to respond.

The Saudis will probably wait until a team of independent experts from the United Nations has completed an investigation into the incident.

Although the experts are likely to come to the same conclusions - namely, that the attacks could not have been carried out without Iranian material support and guidance - the process will give the Saudis time to consider their options…

Read on.