Aegis DDG
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Military experts at IHS Janes Intelligence Review made the discovery while studying images of a base in desert south-west of Riyadh that housed medium-range ballistic missiles. A pair of launch pads could be seen with launch markings apparently pointing north-west towards Tel Aviv and north-east towards Tehran.
The configuration of the launch pads, believed to have been built within the last five years, suggests that Saudi Arabia could perceive both countries as potential threats.
While the Sunni kingdom maintains discreet back channel contacts with Israel, it has become increasingly concerned about the threats from Shia mullahs in Iran, which aspires to replace Saudi Arabia as the pre-eminent power in the Gulf.
There are fears that if Tehran succeeds in acquiring nuclear-weapons capability, Saudi Arabia will seek to follow suit. A Wikileaks cable from 2010 said that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia privately urged America to destroy Irans nuclear programme and cut off the head of the snake
Tensions have also been raised by the Syrian civil war, in which Riyadh has backed the rebels and Tehran has backed President Bashar al-Assad.
Graphic: Saudi Arabia's missile base 'with launch pads aimed at Israel and Iran' - Telegraph
The configuration of the launch pads, believed to have been built within the last five years, suggests that Saudi Arabia could perceive both countries as potential threats.
While the Sunni kingdom maintains discreet back channel contacts with Israel, it has become increasingly concerned about the threats from Shia mullahs in Iran, which aspires to replace Saudi Arabia as the pre-eminent power in the Gulf.
There are fears that if Tehran succeeds in acquiring nuclear-weapons capability, Saudi Arabia will seek to follow suit. A Wikileaks cable from 2010 said that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia privately urged America to destroy Irans nuclear programme and cut off the head of the snake
Tensions have also been raised by the Syrian civil war, in which Riyadh has backed the rebels and Tehran has backed President Bashar al-Assad.
Graphic: Saudi Arabia's missile base 'with launch pads aimed at Israel and Iran' - Telegraph