Sources say pressure from Saudi Arabia and Israel prompted Trump to order an attack on Iran.

PANews reported on March 1st, citing the Washington Post, that four sources familiar with the matter revealed that US President Trump launched a large-scale airstrike against Iran on Saturday, driven by weeks of lobbying from two unusual Middle Eastern allies—Israel and Saudi Arabia. The sources indicated that although Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman publicly supported a diplomatic solution to the Iranian issue, he had repeatedly called Trump privately over the past month, urging the US to launch the airstrike.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued to lobby the United States to strike Iran, considering it Israel's "mortal enemy." Under pressure from various quarters, Trump ordered a large-scale airstrike against the Iranian leadership and military. Although US intelligence assessments concluded that Iranian forces were unlikely to pose a direct threat to the US mainland within the next decade, the attack still occurred.