President Donald Trump speaks at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 13, 2025.

At the end of the meeting, Prince Khalid gave Iran a key promise: Saudi Arabia would not let its land or airspace be used by either the U.S. or Israel for any military action against Iran.

Saudi officials called it a “weak deal” that had only emboldened the kingdom’s regional rival, Iran. They cheered when President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement a few years later.

Relations between Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally, and Iran have been strained since they severed diplomatic ties in 2016, following the storming of the Saudi embassy in Tehran after the kingdom's ...