Images analysed by experts at IHS Jane's Intelligence Review
has revealed a hitherto undisclosed surface-to-surface missile base deep in the
Saudi desert, with capabilities for hitting both countries.
Analysts who examined the photos spotted two launch pads
with markings pointing north-west towards Tel Aviv and north-east towards
Tehran.
They are designed for Saudi Arabia's arsenal of lorry-launched DF 3
missiles, which have a range of 1,500-2,500 miles and can carry a two-ton
payload.
The base, believed to have been built within the last five
years, gives an insight into Saudi strategic thinking at a time of heightened
tensions in the Gulf.
While Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic relations
with Israel, it has long maintained discreet back channel communications as
part of attempts to promote stability in the region.
The two countries also have a mutual enemy in Iran, though,
which has long seen Saudi Arabia as a rival power in the Gulf. Experts fear
that if Iran obtains a nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia would seek to follow suit.
Analysts at IHS Jane's believe that the kingdom is currently
in the process of upgrading its missiles, although even the DF3, which dates
back to the 1980s, is itself potentially big enough to carry a nuclear device.
The missile base, which is at al-Watah, around 125 miles
south-west of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, was discovered during a project by IHS
Jane's to update their assessment of Saudi Arabia's military capabilities.
It serves as both a training and launch facility, with the
missiles stored in an underground silo built into a rocky hillside. To the
north of the facility are two circle-shaped launch pads, both with compass-style
markings showing the precise direction that the launchers should fire in.
The Chinese-made missiles, which date back to the 1980s, are
not remotely-guided and therefore have to be positioned in the direction of
their target before firing.
"One appears to be aligned on a bearing of
approximately 301 degrees and suggesting a potential Israeli target, and the
other is oriented along an azimuth (bearing) of approximately 10 degrees,
ostensibly situated to target Iranian locations," said the IHS Jane's
article, which is published on Thursday.
While the lorry-launched missiles can theoretically be fired
from any location, the idea of having pre-planned directional markers is to
ensure that they can be deployed in accurate fashion as quickly as possible,
said Allison Puccioni, an image expert at IHS Jane's.
"There is a marked out spot for the launch truck to
park in, which will facilitate an expedited launch," she said.
Robert Munks, deputy editor of IHS Jane's Intelligence
Review, said: "Our assessment suggests that this base is either partly or
fully operational, with the launch pads pointing in the directions of Israel
and Iran respectively. We cannot be certain that the missiles are pointed
specifically at Tel Aviv and Tehran themselves, but if they were to be
launched, you would expect them to be targeting major cities.
"We do not want to make too many inferences about the
Saudi strategy, but clearly Saudi Arabia does not enjoy good relations with
either Iran or Israel."
Officials at the Saudi Embassy in London did not get back
with a response when contacted by The Telegraph. The Israeli Embassy in London
said: "We have no comment on this matter."
David Butter, an associate fellow with the Middle East and
North Africa program at Chatham House, the London-based foreign affairs
think-tank, said there was "little surprise" that the Saudis had the
missiles in place.
"It would seem that they are looking towards some sort
of deterrent capability, which is an obvious thing for them to be doing, given
that Iran too is developing its own ballistic missiles," he said.
He added, though, that the Saudis would know that the site
would come to the attention of foreign intelligence agencies, and that the
missile pad pointed in the direction of Israel could be partly just for
"for show".
"It would give the Iranians the impression that they
were not being exclusively targeted, and would also allow the Saudis to suggest
to the rest of the Arab world that they still consider Israel a threat."
Oil-rich Saudi Arabia considers itself one of the
pre-eminent powers in the Gulf region, but its Sunni Islam leadership has long
been at loggerheads with the Shia mullahs of Iran.
The ongoing conflict in
Syria, which Saudi Arabia has backed the Sunni-dominated rebels and Iran has
backed the Shia-dominated regime of President Bashar al-Assad, has heightened
fears of a wider sectarian conflict.
A confidential diplomatic cable revealed in the
"WikiLeaks" disclosures of 2010 said that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
repeatedly exhorted the United States to launch military strikes against Iran's
nuclear programme and "cut off the head of the snake"
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