Former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz said on Newsmax Saturday that "the Saudis may get involved in this war," framing Riyadh as a likely next actor in a widening Iran conflict, even as he argued the European Union is still tied to the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.
In a discussion that began with Europe, the former National Security Council chief of staff agreed with criticism that the EU is "all talk and no action."
"I think that's exactly right," Fleitz told "Wake Up America Weekend," arguing that "the EU is still standing behind the fraudulent [Barack] Obama nuclear deal with Iran in 2015."
European leaders "think it was working" and "think it was a good thing," he said, but "[i]t is documented that there's been massive Iranian cheating against the deal, which is why President [Donald] Trump pulled out of it."
From that critique, Fleitz shifted to what he described as a signal from Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia said it "condemns in the strongest terms the brutal Iranian aggression and blatant violation of the sovereignty" of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan, and said it was "placing all its resources at their disposal."
"I read from that statement that the Saudis may get involved in this war," Fleitz said, adding that the Saudis are "furious that Iran attacked its territory."
The interview aired as the U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday.
In Europe, leaders warned the fighting could spread, with French President Emmanuel Macron calling for an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting.
The Iranian government on Saturday confirmed its attacks on several targets, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, where air bases with U.S. assets are hosted.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said all Israeli and U.S. military targets in the Middle East have been struck "by the powerful blows of Iranian missiles."
Fleitz went on to say why he thought Saudi leaders might see the stakes as direct.
"Look, Iran is an enemy of the Saudi state. This is an existential threat to Saudi Arabia also," he said.
"So I think we're going to see conflict with the Saudis also."
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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