Powerful Saudi Prince Says no Space for Dialogue with Iran
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Saudi Arabia's deputy crown prince said Tuesday in a rare and wide-ranging interview that there is no space for dialogue with rival Iran due to its Shiite ambitions "to control the Islamic world."
The interview, which aired on multiple Saudi TV channels, offered a glimpse into how Mohammed bin Salman views the kingdom's top rival. It also laid bare the breadth of his portfolio and powers.
The 31-year-old prince, who was named in 2015 by his father, King Salman, as an eventual heir to the throne, is Saudi Arabia's defense minister, overseeing the war in Yemen against a rebel group aligned with Iran. He also oversees economic matters and is behind a bold program to overhaul the Saudi economy.
Framing the tensions with Iran in sectarian terms, he said it is Iran's goal "to control the Islamic world" and to spread its Shiite doctrine in preparation for the arrival of a revered imam named Mohammed al-Mahdi. Shiite Muslims believe al-Mahdi, the 12th and last Shiite imam, who disappeared in the 9th century, will one day reappear to bring justice to Earth.
When asked if he sees a possibility for direct dialogue with Iran, the prince replied: "How can I come to an understanding with someone, or a regime, that has an anchoring belief built on an extremist ideology?"
"What are the interests between us? How can I come to an understanding with this?" he said.
Iran and Saudi Arabia's rivalry has played out in proxy wars across the region. They back opposite sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen and they support political rivals in Lebanon, Bahrain and Iraq. The conflicts have deepened Sunni-Shiite enmity between hard-liners on both sides.
Ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran have been strained since Iran's 1979 revolution, with each side competing to be the more powerful force in the Muslim world.
Tensions escalated last year. Saudi Arabia's execution of a local Shiite cleric sparked the ransacking of the Saudi Embassy in Iran by protesters. The two countries severed diplomatic and trade ties.
"We know we are a main target of Iran," Prince Mohammed said. "We are not waiting until there becomes a battle in Saudi Arabia, so we will work so that it becomes a battle for them in Iran and not in Saudi Arabia."
On Yemen, the prince defended the kingdom's decision to go to war there, which is costing Saudi Arabia tens of millions of dollars a day, according to some estimates.
The conflict has worsened an already sweeping humanitarian crisis in Yemen and killed thousands of civilians, mostly by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes.
Experts say the more than two-year-long war has reached a stalemate. Saudi Arabia and its allies have not been able to dislodge the Iranian-allied rebels, known as Houthis, from the capital of Sanaa and other major cities.
When asked about this, Prince Mohammed said the Houthis could be uprooted "in a matter of days." But, he said, Saudi Arabia has not sent ground troops to retake the capital and other major cities because it would lead to thousands of deaths among Saudi soldiers and Yemeni civilians.
"Time is on our side. Patience is on our side," he said.
03 May 2017, 08:17
212
Powerful Saudi Prince Says no Space for Dialogue with Iran
just as much as there is no room or space for dialogue with iran's proxy militia in Lebanon. hizballah is the enemy of democracy and human decency. It is a cancer that must be eradicated surgically or with chemotherapy.
03 May 2017, 08:36
131
You call yourself a Christian? Dirty wahabi.
Your Prince here is a kid, he learned since he was in the cradle how to lick American shoes.
Without America there is no Saudi Arabia.
03 May 2017, 08:43
29
Who gives you the right to insult people the way you do?
Who gives you the right to question people's faith and insult their religion?
You people have no shame. Your hatred knows no limits and indeed you are the cancer that needs to extracted.
03 May 2017, 08:58
101
You insult my leader, then I will insult yours truly.
The thing I am pointing out here is the fact that your friend there pass himself to be a Christian whilst praising these Saudi kid.
I don't believe any Christians ever did that in Lebanon not even Geagea.
03 May 2017, 09:35
210
I praise Saudi Arabia's deputy crown prince for taking the initiative to eradicate a hezbollah like terrorist organization inside Yemen and along his country's borders.
Had we done that in our country 15-20 years ago, we would not be in the situation we are in today.
Respect - Praise - Admiration
03 May 2017, 09:41
101
Justin you can't let the guy fend for himself?
You have to be his overprotective husband?
03 May 2017, 09:51
111
@barry
which country are you talking about!? surely not Lebanon..... because this country was partially occupied by an enemy that you praise and now you admire a little prince the founder of Al Qaeda terrorists who are trying to eradicate all minorites in M.E, with this stance we believe that you're not Lebanese nor you are a Christian, but an intruder to spread sectarian hate...
btw, thanks to the resistance, the people (decent) and the army this country remains standing, of course excluding you and your likes.
03 May 2017, 10:09
110
Barry, the Ansarullah crushes your American weapons into junk in Yemen.
03 May 2017, 10:36
110
Actually he does deserve every bit of praise.
and Southern please spare us your minority BS takiah lies. You people are the ones that are eradicating and cleansing majorities in Yemen and Syria.
Southern, your story that hezbollah and your wilayat al faqih protect minorities does not fool anybody except you.
03 May 2017, 10:50
19
southern from southern iran
point us to where and how you concluded barry's comment incited sectarian hate. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization whether you like it or not. It was, it is and will always be. If that to you is inciting sectarian hate, then the sectarian hate is only in your sick sectarian mind.
03 May 2017, 11:06
81
@janoubi the fake
"terrorist organization": is only in the mind of its enemies, and the question that you have to ask is this: who are the resistance enemies are!? Israel your country of adoption and the terrorists of the wahhabi ideology, i mean Al Qaeda, ISIS...now stick this answer in your dirty mind but for forever... btw, and a label in your forehead too.
03 May 2017, 11:22
91
Yahoud is just as fake as Saudi.wa7abi.
He pass himself out to be a southerner even though he mocks and insults the ones that liberated Southern Lebanon.
Now that is a real faker.
03 May 2017, 13:35
71
i mean in general he is an inciter, his statement in this article.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/229109-report-israeli-strike-near-damascus-airport-targets-hizbullah-military-base
03 May 2017, 13:51
60
Between Najran and Jazan up to Northern Yemeni border is a string of Abrams and Bradley tank wreckages along the way.
03 May 2017, 08:21
101
Before this is over, he will be begging for dialogue alongside his father.
03 May 2017, 08:37
18
before it was over, did the son in your avatar beg for dialogue alongside his terrorist father?
03 May 2017, 08:48
111
The son in ny avatar chose his father's way very young.
Where did your 30 year old Prince ever fight or undergo military training?
He makes these people suffer for his Kingdom instead.
https://youtu.be/_sCMvqnvurE
03 May 2017, 13:00
27
ولي عهد الشاه: مشكلة المنطقة نظام إيران وليس الشعب
"قبل الثورة كان بلدنا دائماً ملتزماً بسياسة حسن الجوار والاحترام المتبادل"
http://www.alarabiya.net/ar/iran/2017/05/03/ولي-عهد-الشاه-مشكلة-المنطقة-نظام-إيران-وليس-الشعب-.html
03 May 2017, 14:40
70
lol you forgot to sign in as Norma, or did you?
maybe you just happen to swing that way....OUCH
04 May 2017, 05:56
01
OUCH is a new word the night security guard picked up. We are impressed!
03 May 2017, 16:23
07
still traumatized by sos-ice-norma-barry-justin-janoubi-galaxy and every other poster on naharnet?
03 May 2017, 16:32
06
lol @the_boar
you forgot to sign in as @trollslayer, or did you?
Maybe he swings maybe he does not, why does it seem to be an important influence & outcome to your miserable life?
get a life @the_boar, @trollslyer, @flametroller or whoever else you wanna be today
have a g00d day bruh
03 May 2017, 17:12
70
Texas, this is how your "strategic" advance into Yemen looks like.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c6/a7/93/c6a793a7b553c79ac19836f7aaa2779a.jpg
03 May 2017, 17:46
60
It is simple, Saudi Arabia is not the strongest power in the Middle East, that is Iran even your Western allies knows this.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/04/14/yemen-iran-saudi-arabia-middle-east/
If Saudi Arabia wants to be spared of increasing Yemeni attacks on the border, then it has to stop funding ISIS and Nusra in Iraq and Syria and pull out of Yemen.
Without USA then, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and all the other Gulf monarchies would be abolished by now.
03 May 2017, 17:48
60
eagledawn stop making excuses.
If you want a better footage of the Saudi vehicles here.
https://youtu.be/bB8VQcKRJyc?t=34s
https://youtu.be/bB8VQcKRJyc?t=2m14s
03 May 2017, 18:12
50
PMOI has made attack like these several times with backing from Saudi Arabia, Israel and USA long before the Yemeni war and Syrian.
Their leadership is in France, just like the so called Syrian opposition leadership in Turkey, weaklings many of them were killed in that skirmish they made.
Be it as it may, Saudi Arabia will remain in a swamp down in Yemen aslong as they do not make dialogue to get themselves out.
04 May 2017, 05:59
01
The net is full of videos and photos of your filthy devil worshipers' rotten bodies littered all over the place. But you can bask in your own vomit if that makes you feel fulfilled.
03 May 2017, 18:09
04
hiiiiii miss tic is having a nervous breakdown because saudis are saying they won't talk to his iranian master... pooor little girl, snif, snif....
03 May 2017, 18:52
03
محمد بن سلمان: كيف نتفاهم مع نظام إيراني ينتظر المهدي؟
http://www.alarabiya.net/ar/saudi-today/2017/05/02/ماذا-قال-محمد-بن-سلمان-عن-إيران-و-المهدي-المنتظر-؟.html
