At a recent meeting that discretely took place on the Molesworth NATO air base in the UK, Prince Turki al-Fayçal conveyed to his Anglo-American allies the official Saudi position with regard to the "Arab Spring."

In the first place, Riyad does not perceive the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain as being color revolutions triggered by the U.S. It looks at them instead as popular movements instigated by Iran.

It logically follows that Saudi Arabia deployed its regular troops to Bahrain and Yemen, and its Wahhabi mercenaries to Syria and Libya. Moreover, Riyad intended to transform the Gulf Cooperation Council into a coalition of Sunni monarchies to lead the ideological combat and repression against the influence of the Iranian Shia Revolution.

Besides, in spite of mutual expressions of friendship, Washington and Riyad have come to realize that they are no longer as inter-dependent as in the past. The United States looks to a future chiefly based on gas instead of oil, while Saudi Arabia beholds the dwindling of its reserves, with China as its principal commercial partner.

Although they rely on the Saudis to corrupt Lebanese, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders with billions of petrodollars, and that they enlist Al-Qaeda contingents in Syria and Libya, the Anglo-Americans are speculating on the collapse of the Saudi monarchy in the medium term. They envision the remodeling of North Africa structured around Morocco and the Berbers, and of the Middle East around Turkey and the Muslim Brothers.

During the meeting, Prince Turki al-Façal brought up the need for his country to obtain nuclear weapons if Iran was doing the same. This issue has been covered by the Guardian, the first outlet to release the thrust of the proceedings.

In this connection, Riyad is not without knowing that the Iranian military nuclear program is nothing but a hoax proliferated by U.S. war propaganda. Thus, the announcement was intended as a message that Riyad anticipates to be dumped by its Anglo-American allies and is planning its own defense should the revolutions backed by Iran continue to spread.

The closest partners in the world are preparing to divorce by mutual consent.

"Saudi Arabia worries about stability, security and Iran", by Jason Burke, The Guardian, 29 June 2011.