But that has not stopped left-wing Israelis from hailing the Saudi move as a potential rallying point for their dispirited ranks.

Oil industry officials said that another consideration behind the Saudi move was the widely shared expectation among oil experts that worldwide demand for oil would rise sharply in the fall and winter.

There was no official reaction in Jerusalem to the Saudi move.

The Saudi move confirms the failure of an effort by Syria earlier this year to mediate between Iran and the gulf countries, Arab diplomats and Saudi officials said.

Pentagon planners and military experts say the various Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force units involved in the Saudi move each have distinct missions.

The Saudi move was only the latest in a series of decisions that can represent an escalation of what had been a low-key confrontation with Iran over the last few years.

The Saudi move has resulted in some Yemeni families being painfully divided, since many of them obtained Saudi citizenship a decade ago when it was possible.

The Saudi move, announced at a news conference at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, was praised by American officials from the Treasury and State Departments.

The Saudi move represents a good-faith gesture that Riyadh has no plans to acquire nuclear warheads for ballistic missiles bought from China.

But current Saudi moves are distinguished, according to Western diplomats, by being far more open and un-apologetic in the use of the Saudis' oil-based economic might.