Could Saudi Arabia Beat Iran in a Persian Gulf Air War? |
A Eurofighter Typhoon in the Royal Saudi Air Force takes off from Nellis AFB, Nevada, during joint exercises with the US Air Force in March 2025. Saudi Arabia’s regular training and interoperability with the United States are major points in its favor during an air war with Iran. (US Air Force/Airman 1st Class Brianna Vetro)
Could Saudi Arabia Beat Iran in a Persian Gulf Air War?
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Saudi Arabia’s conventional air force would crush Iran’s—yet Iran has invested heavily in asymmetric ways to strike back against its more powerful southern rival.
As tensions increase across the Middle East, it becomes tempting to compare the relative forces of regional powers, like Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are ancient rivals, with a shared history too long to recount. In the modern era, Saudi Arabia under the Saud family and Imperial Iran under the Pahlavi dynasty were longtime rivals; after the Iranian monarchy was overthrown in 1979, the new regime began to vigorously oppose the Sauds, leading them to support Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War from 1980 to 1988. In the modern era, the two nations have continued to face off across the Persian Gulf; although a China-negotiated rapprochement briefly improved relations from 2023 to 2026, Iran restored them to hostility by launching missiles at Saudi Arabia after........