"They claim they will send troops (to Syria) but I don't think they will dare do so. They have a classic army and history tells us such armies stand no chance in fighting irregular resistance forces," the Fars news agency quoted Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari as saying.
The decision could spell trouble for the oil kingdom. "This will be like a coup de grâce for [the Saudis]," Jafari added. "Apparently, they see no other way but this, and if this is the case, then their fate is sealed."
However, Saudi Arabia does not have a strong record when it comes to anti-Daesh efforts. The Saudis had carried out several airstrikes against the brutal group, but later switched to Yemen and have since largely been focused on their military intervention in one of the poorest countries in the Arab world. The operation has been condemned as a humanitarian catastrophe.
In addition, Riyadh has repeatedly tried to hinder the nascent Syrian peace process aimed at putting an end to five years of violence, which has already claimed more than 250,000 lives and uprooted approximately 11 million people.
