Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman warned that if President Donald Trump does not follow through with his threats against Iran, it will embolden the regime, four people told Axios.
Saudi Arabia had previously cautioned against escalating tensions with Iran, which caused Trump to delay a strike.
Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's younger brother and closest confidant, was in Washington to discuss what to do with Iran, Axios reported.
On Friday, he met with 15 think tank experts on the Middle East and representatives from five Jewish organizations.
Iran has warned that any military action would be met with an unprecedented response.
KBS met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, and Joint Chiefs chair Gen. Dan Caine on Thursday, Axios reported.
While Trump has ordered a massive U.S. buildup in the Middle East, White House officials told Axios a final decision has not been made and they are willing to explore a diplomatic solution, though there have been no negotiations.
"Iran always wants to make a deal. But what kind of deal do you want to make is the problem," a Gulf official told Axios.
"What kind of deal Iran wants to make and what kind of deal the U.S. accepts? That's a very good question, and we don't see it coming together at this point," a Gulf official added.
MBS told Iran's president in a call Saudi Arabia would not allow the U.S. to its airspace for an attack on Iran.
Other countries in the region like Qatar and Oman have been scrambling to talk the White House down from striking Iran, Politico reported.
According to three people familiar with discussions between the administration and Gulf partners, the White House has offered little in the way of concrete assurances that it will follow their advice.
Instead, they say Trump's escalating public warnings, paired with the continued surge of U.S. naval and air assets toward the Gulf, has narrowed his own options, fueling a growing belief among regional officials that some form of strike on Iran is becoming increasingly hard to avoid.
Trump on Thursday told CBS News that he had conversations with Iran over the last few days, and that he planned to have more, adding: "We have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didn't have to use them."
"I told them two things," Trump said about his contacts with Iran. "Number one, no nuclear. And number two, stop killing protesters."
On Friday, the president told reporters that Iran wanted to "make a deal."
"Hopefully, we'll make a deal. If we do make a deal, that's good. If we don't make a deal, we'll see what happens," he added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.