Prince seeks greater US action to contain Iran

SAUDI ARABIA became the second key American ally in the Middle East to demand President Barack Obama change tack towards Iran yesterday, as it called for US-led coalition ‘‘boots on the ground’’ to fight Islamic State (Isis).

Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, told John Kerry, the US secretary of state, that he risked allowing Iran to ‘‘take over Iraq’’, echoing Israel’s recent concerns over the White House’s policy toward Tehran.

The United States and its coalition allies are attacking Isis positions from the air in both Syria and Iraq, but refusing to send troops. As a result, outside Kurdish areas, the offensive in both countries is heavily influenced by Iran and its proxy Shia militias such as Hizbollah.

This has raised serious concerns in Saudi Arabia, Iran’s Sunni rival for Middle East dominance.

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currently attacking Isis positions in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s home city north of Baghdad. But most of its forces are under the command of government-aligned Shia militias, whose leaders are close to the Iranian regime, even though the population of Tikrit is largely Sunni.

About 28,000 people have fled their homes in the face of the military operation, according to the United Nations.

‘‘Tikrit is a prime example of what we are worried about,’’ Prince Saud said. ‘‘Iran is taking over the country.’’

The possibility of a deal on Iran’s nuclear issue and Obama’s refusal to send troops back to the Arab world despite an escalating succession of civil wars have sent shockwaves through America’s allies.

This week, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, brought relations with the White House to their lowest point for years by openly challenging Obama and the proposed deal with Iran from the floor of Congress.

Saudi Arabia fears that the multiple crises in the Arab world have given Tehran an opportunity to extend its power.

In Syria, the regime of President Bashar al-Assad is heavily dependant on Iranian money, the support of Iranian advisers and Hizbollah. In Yemen, an Iranbacked

Prince Saud al-Faisal, Saudi foreign minister militia has driven Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, the Saudibacked president, out of the capital.

In Iraq, although the government is supposed to be balanced between Sunni and Shia elements, Shia militia are playing an ever stronger security role since the collapse of the army in the face of the Isis push across the country last (northern) summer. The current assault on Tikrit is being masterminded by two men – at least according to the publicity photographs pro-Baghdad sources have released. One is Hadi alAmeri, the leader of the powerful Badr Organisation, a Shia militia close to Iran.

The other is Qassem Suleimani, leader of the Iranian Al-Quds force, the overseas operations arm of the Revolutionary Guard. He is said to be co-ordinating the Tikrit assault from a village to its east. A speech he made at a rally in Iran last month caused alarm through the Gulf.

‘‘We are witnessing the export of the Islamic revolution throughout the region,’’ he said. ‘‘From Bahrain and Iraq to Syria, Yemen and North Africa.’’ Saudi Arabia has long borders with Iraq and Yemen and also has a restive Shia minority of its own.

‘‘We see Iran involved in Syria and Lebanon and Yemen and Iraq, and God knows where,’’ Prince Saud said. ‘‘This must stop if Iran is to be part of the resolution for the region and not part of the problem.’’

He urged the US-led coalition – of which Saudi Arabia is itself a member – to put ‘‘boots on the ground’’ against Isis.

‘‘The kingdom stresses the need to provide the military means needed to face this challenge on the ground,’’ he said.

Kerry insisted that the nuclear deal was separate from the wider issue of Iranian expansion in the region, and that he was not seeking some broader ‘‘grand bargain’’ with Tehran. ‘‘Even as we engage in these discussions with Iran around this programme, we will not take our eye off Iran’s destabilising actions in places like Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen particularly,’’ he said. However, it is notable that the US-led coalition has not been involved with the Tikrit operation. Officials in Washington have suggested that this was out of disapproval for the prominent use of Iranian-backed militias.

A senior member of al-Qaeda’s official Syria wing, the al-Nusra Front, was reportedly killed last night in Syria. Jihadi sources said Abu Humam al-Shami was killed in a US-led coalition air strike in Idlib province, near the border with Turkey.