Saudi should strike them if anyone.
Unlikely. They deliberately hobble their military. Because a military commander capable of striking Iran is capable of striking the royal palace and making himself king. The entire military is geared almost exclusively towards defense and internal security.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_II#Death
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14_July_Revolution
The problem with a strong military is the same as the problem encountered by the Roman Emperors who became puppets of their Praetorian Guards. For the Gulf nations, Ministry of Defense isn’t a politically-correct term for their military establishments. What we have is a War Department, as in we are geared for offensive war. Their militaries are really only capable of defense and riot control.
In a way, they buy a lot of our gear so we have pre-cached spare parts and supplies if the balloon goes up. In a book about Desert Shield right after Saddam overran Kuwait, that’s exactly what the tripwire force of 82nd and 101st Airborne paratroopers that landed to discourage Saddam from overrunning the Saudis ended up doing - using American spare parts and supplies the Saudis had purchased from Uncle Sam. That’s what all the Saudi bashers don’t realize - 9/11 wasn’t the doing of the royals - they are reliant on us for external defense, and have no reason to !@#$ us over.
I think most people think Muslims are drones who do as they’re told. In reality, Muslims are dangerous subjects prone to armed revolt, whether or not their rulers are Muslim. But, in a way, especially if their rulers are Muslim. Much as Alexander’s generals slaughtered his entire family after he died, Muhammad’s generals wiped out his bloodline after he croaked. Except Muslims consider Muhammad the closest thing to Allah that ever walked the Earth, whereas Alexander’s men merely considered him a brilliant and ruthless commander. If the literal fruit of Muhammad’s loins weren’t sacred, no Muslim ruler is, and this is reflected in the frequency of palace revolts. And at root, that’s why the Gulf kingdoms have fairly weak military establishments. Because unlike their current Western counterparts, Muslim generals (and Muslims overall) have the mentality of the men of Alexander’s age - they view a coup, however bloody, as a completely legitimate means of gaining power.