Riyadh • Saudi Arabia is expanding its military arsenal to counter what it sees as Iran's growing influence in a region convulsed by violence.
Analysts and diplomats say Israel's bombardment of Lebanon after Syrian and Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas kidnapped two soldiers has added to predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia's alarm at Shi'ite powerhouse Iran's policies in the Middle East.
"There is now an understanding that Iran has to be countered," a Saudi adviser said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There is going to be a huge strategic spending on defence, based on a new defence doctrine."
Over the past year Saudi officials have spoken publicly against Iranian influence in Shi'ite governed Iraq and the possibility of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.
After Israel bombarded Lebanon, US ally Saudi Arabia blamed Shi'ite Hizbollah for the blitz that has so far killed more than 300 people and ravaged the infrastructure.
"Iran has been a lot more aggressive (over last year) ... it was made the Saudis sit up in a way they haven't for a good 10 years," said a Western diplomat in Riyadh. "Who in the long term is their main strategic threat? They see it as Iran."
Saudi Arabia wields global political clout partly because it is the world's top oil exporter, and over the past week it has spent billions of dollars on military equipment.
Washington said on Thursday it had approved the sale of 24 UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters, radios, armoured vehicles and other military equipment worth more than $6bn.
France and Saudi Arabia also signed a defence cooperation agreement on Friday, with a French government source saying a deal was close on helicopters and tanker aircraft. And Riyadh is set to buy up to 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets in a deal with Britain that could cost more than $10bn.
According to Jane's Information Group, tight public finances held up military expansion plans in the 1990s. But a spectacular rise in world oil prices has since turned Saudi fortunes around. "The relatively small Royal Saudi Land Forces are thinly spread to cope with potential threats on a number of fronts. Saudi has far smaller ground forces than those of Iran," Jane's said in a report last month, estimating the army at 70,000 men and elite National Guard at 77,000.
