Saudi Arabia Displays Ballistic Missiles in Likely Signal to Iran

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the first time displayed its medium-range ballistic missiles — a move that analysts interpreted as primarily aimed at Iran.

A pair of Dongfeng-3 missiles were rolled out during a military parade in Riyadh. The Saudi government bought the missiles from China in 1987 but had refrained for decades from publicly showing them off, according to an analysis by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The weapons traditionally are kept deployed at a base to the south of the Saudi capital, where they are positioned for possible launches against Iran, said Washington Institute fellow Simon Henderson.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia reportedly acquired more sophisticated Chinese Dongfeng-21 missiles, but there were no reported sightings of those missiles during Tuesday’s parade.

“The missile display signals Saudi Arabia’s determination to counter Tehran’s growing strength, as well as its readiness to act independently of the United States,” Henderson said.