In his first visit to the United States since assuming the throne, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud met with US President Barack Obama to discuss various regional issues, foremost among them Iran’s destabilizing regional activities and the aftermath of the recent nuclear deal. The Saudi monarch was assured that the agreement prevents Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon through a robust inspections regime, and that there is a provision for a snapback of sanctions should the agreement be violated. But more broadly, the outcome of the meeting highlights and emphasizes Saudi Arabia’s continued efforts to counter and negate Iran’s influence in certain Arab countries.
Given the opposition of the Obama administration to engage militarily in the various wars of the Middle East, the Saudis have set out on an unprecedented expansion of their armed forces under the rubric of a Saudi defense doctrine. With over $100 billion already spent on conventional military expansion in the past five years and another extra $50 billion allocated over the next two years, the Saudis are fully committed to and capable of out-powering the Iranians. They are pursuing this path through an Arab alliance they lead that can defend Arab homelands from rebel Shiite militias supported and armed by Iran, conduct extensive counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda and deter the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
