In rare interview with Israeli TV, former Saudi general urges ‘serious consequences’ for Iran’s ‘barbaric’ actions

In a rare engagement with Israeli media, a former Saudi general condemns Iran’s strikes across the region in recent weeks, telling Channel 12 that they could not be allowed to pass without “extremely serious consequences.”

“What Iran is doing in the region is extremely dangerous. It is directed against the region itself,” says Abdullah bin Ghanem Al-Qahtani, who served as a major general in the Royal Saudi Air Force and is now a security and strategic affairs analyst.

“This is a grave threat that cannot be met with silence. It simply cannot be allowed to pass without extremely serious consequences, given that Iran is targeting virtually everything in the region,” Al-Qahtani says in Arabic, adding that “it is clear that the Iranian revolutionary regime does not want to fall unless it is certain that everyone else has been destroyed first — before it is itself destroyed… or overthrown.”

Public criticism of Tehran from Saudi officials is not unusual, but interviews with Israeli media by prominent Saudi figures remain rare, as diplomatic tensions, especially over the Palestinian issue, continue to complicate US efforts at normalization between Riyadh and Jerusalem.

Al-Qahtani did not call explicitly for further escalation by the US or Israel, but said Israel “must resolve the Palestinian issue,” and that the US “must help everyone in this region ensure that terrorism does not return, and that neither Iran nor anyone else has another pretext to exploit.”

“The sensible people in Israel must resolve the outstanding problems between Israel and the Arab states,” he says.