Saudi Arabia has denied claims that the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, secretly lobbied U.S. President Donald Trump to attack Iran.

Fahad Nazer, spokesperson for the Saudi Embassy in Washington, in a post on X on Monday, responded to a Washington Post report, alleging that the Saudi crown prince lobbied Mr Trump to bomb Iran.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been consistent in supporting diplomatic efforts to reach a credible deal with Iran,” Mr Nazer said.

The spokesperson said Saudi Arabian authorities never lobbied Mr Trump to launch military strikes against Iran.

“At no point in all our communication with the Trump Administration did we lobby the President to adopt a different policy,” Mr Nazer said.

On Sunday, the Washington Post cited four people familiar with the matter, saying Mr Trump launched an attack on Iran after months of secret lobbying by Saudi Arabia and Israel.

A joint strike carried out by U.S. and Israeli forces killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other officials of his regime.

This development has elicited a retaliatory attack by Iran targeted at U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. 

On Monday, Saudi oil giant Aramco shut down operations at its Ras Tanura refinery following “a drone strike” amid Iran’s retaliatory strikes across Gulf countries.