News - Middle East: Saudi Arabia has started negotiations with the United States for a defense pact long-sought by Riyadh.

The Financial Times (FT) reported that Saudi Arabia is discussing a defense deal with the Trump administration similar to the US-Qatar defense pact.

Last month, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order "assuring the security of the state of Qatar.”

His order came after the Israelis targeted Doha. The Israeli attack against Doha was met by far and wide condemnation.

The US-Qatar pact pledged to treat any armed attack on Qatar as a threat to the United States.

FT reported that the Saudi kingdom hopes to secure a US defense deal similar to the Qatar defense pact when its de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (referred to in media as MBS), visits the White House next month.

People familiar with the matter said MBS's meeting with Trump is expected to be “robust” and to include comprehensive deals ensuring US-Saudi military and intelligence co-operation.

“There are discussions about signing something when the crown prince comes, but the details are in flux,” said a Trump administration senior official.

The US State Department declined to comment on the Saudi prince's visit. However, it did point out that US military co-operation with Saudis was “a strong bedrock of our regional strategy.”

In the meantime, leaked US military files revealed a covert US-led cooperation between the Israelis and six key Arab states against Iran.

The leaked US military documents published in a report by an American daily revealed that the partnership — known as the “Regional Security Construct” — was forged between Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE under the leadership of US Central Command in 2022.

According to The Washington Post, the partnership quietly expanded through 2025, linking the six Arab states into a shared air-defense network. The objective of the military cooperation between the Arab states and Israel was to confront what was claimed to be “threats” from Iran.

“The documents show that the threat posed by Iran was the driving force behind the closer ties, which have been fostered by the US military’s Central Command, known as Centcom,” the newspaper reported. 

The Post report added that military cooperation between the Arab states and the US military included years of secret meetings, joint training drills and exercises focusing on countering Iran.

Following the Israeli regime's attack last month on a residential area in the Qatari capital, Doha, targeting Hamas’s leadership, the monarchy slammed the US for its complicity in the strike.

Despite receiving intelligence and knowing in advance about the Israeli regime's planned strike on Doha, Washington decided not to inform the Arab leaders about the threat.

At the time of the strike, the US' Arab allies in the region were tricked into believing that Washington would tell them beforehand if the Tel Aviv forces wanted to attack.  

Qatar's monarchy censured US leaders over their having refused to warn Doha about the prospect of Israeli aggression.

Source: Press TV