Mohammed bin Salman

This week on the New World Next Week: King Salman rejiggers the Saudi succession plan; things heat up in Syria once again as the US shoots down a Syrian jet; and (who would have guessed it?) CRISPR genetic mutations are already happening.

This week on the New World Next Week: King Salman rejiggers the Saudi succession plan; things heat up in Syria once again as the US shoots down a Syrian jet; and (who would have guessed it?) CRISPR genetic mutations are already happening.

By M K Bhadrakumar | Indian Punchline | June 22, 2017 The royal decree of June 21 by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman appointing his son Mohammed bin Salman as the Crown Prince and next in line to the throne is a watershed event in Middle East politics. Such a development has been expected for some time, but […]

  Saudi Arabia’s king Wednesday (June 21) appointed his son Prince Mohammed bin Salman as crown prince, replacing his nephew, Mohammed bin Nayef, as first in line to the throne. King Salman bin Abdulaziz is 81 and reportedly not in the best of health. Tellingly, replacing a Crown Prince is not unprecedented with the Arab monarchs. In January 1999, while[Read More...]

Saudi King Salman, left, speaks with his son Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP/Hassan Ammar)
Several months ago, I attended a gathering of influential figures being hosted by a senior personality in the intelligence community of one of the Gulf countries. It was past midnight, and the discussion had gone on for some time, the topic being the political developments in the region, specifically unfolding events in Saudi Arabia.

King Salman, the leader of the Saudi regime has changed the succession to the throne bypassing now former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in favour of newly appointed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Salman is widely seen as the man responsible for Saudi’s increasingly radical and destabilising foreign policy moves including the Saudi war on Yemen and the increased covert funding to Salafist terror groups. Many also claim that he is the architect of the current boycott of fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member state Qatar.

Donald Trump has issued two Tweets which contradict the official US policy of neutrality over the Qatar crisis as articulated yesterday by the American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Trump posted the following Tweets which show him taking the Saudi and by extrapolation, the Egyptian position on Qatar.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman meets with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, in Riyadh, April 19, 2017. (Jonathan Ernst/AP)

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Saudi Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Tuesday, March 14, 2017, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)
Saudi Arabia is planning to cement ties with US President Donald Trump by investing $40bn in US infrastructure development, according to media reports.
The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund is set to announce the plans which may be unveiled next week to coincide with Trump’s visit to the kingdom, sources told Bloomberg on Thursday.

The Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman has threatened that if Saudi Arabia comes to blows with Iran, the Wahhabi Kingdom will go to war inside Iran.
The Saudi Prince who is next in line for the throne said,

“We will not wait until the fight is inside Saudi Arabia and we will work so that the battle is on their side, inside Iran, not in Saudi Arabia”.