According to four sources familiar with the matter, US President Trump launched a massive airstrike against Iran on Saturday, driven by weeks of lobbying from two unusual Middle Eastern allies—Israel and Saudi Arabia. The sources indicated that while Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman publicly supported a diplomatic solution to the Iranian issue, he repeatedly called Trump privately over the past month, urging the US to launch the airstrike. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu continued to publicly lobby the US to strike Iran, considering it Israel's "mortal enemy." Under combined pressure, Trump ordered a massive airstrike against the Iranian leadership and military. Despite US intelligence assessments suggesting that Iranian forces are unlikely to pose a direct threat to the US mainland within the next decade, the attack still occurred. (Washington Post)