RNA – In an interview with Rasa News Agency, Sayyed Hadi Sayyed-Afeghi, a political scientist, emphasized that the appointment of Muhammad ibn Salman as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia was quite predictable and said, “Recently, Muhammad ibn Salman has been interfering in political, military and economic issues and has held important posts and responsibilities. Also, Muhammad ibn Nayef [the former Crown Prince], although the crown prince by name, was not involved in any of the important meetings.”
Saudi King Salman has named his son Muhammad ibn Salman as crown prince, completing a gradual removal of powers from the previous prince Muhammad ibn Nayef, who has been fired.
He added that the timing of announcing this issue is also worthy of attention; an increase in tensions with Qatar, the potential of confrontation with Iran and the public state of King Salman’s health have accelerated these incidents, especially since ibn Salman is afraid that with the death of his father, a coup d’état will occur in the ruling family.
The political expert stressed that ibn Salman could easily become king during the life of his father. By referring to the fact that during the time of King Salman ibn Abdul-Aziz, a council of allegiance was a form of council, Sayyed-Afeghi stated, “The family of King Salman, with his mercy and mercy for [US President] Donald Trump, was able to have a relationship with the Americans for only 450 billion dollars. However, Muhammad ibn Salman himself lacks the minimal knowledge of politics and executive responsibility. He had no experience of governance before, and to this day he has only devoted himself to adventure and stoking fires.”
In response to the question “How likely do you consider the prospect of serious tension in the Saudi ruling family?” Sayyed-Afeghi replied,” “We will have to wait and see the level of patience and tolerance among the other princes and even the king’s brothers will demonstrate toward the rule of an inexperienced young man and selfish adventurer? This is very painful and unbearable for them. I think that the tensions are becoming more serious and that even the possibility of a coup d’état and conflict isn’t far from one’s mind. Unless he makes a compromise, he will choose one of the most influential princes, such as Bandar ibn Sultan, Muta’ib ibn Abdullah or ibn Nayef himself as a crown prince.”
Sayyed-Afeghi also considered the issue of allegiance of ibn Nayef to be very natural, saying, “It’s not certain that this allegiance is due to compulsion and reluctance. Given the current conditions in Saudi Arabia, ibn Nayef does not dare to oppose because of his weak position. Although, it’s likely that he would have given him a significant post or huge amount of money.”
Referring to the costs that Muhammad ibn Salman has generated in Saudi Arabia over the past few years, the former diplomat said, “Naïveté, narcissism and unacceptability are among the things that have internal political implications and will gradually intensify. It’s true that given the current situation, they have pressed their stamps, but despite this, they haven’t been able to increase ibn Salman’s acceptance.”
He said, “If ibn Salman wants to continue his generosity toward Trump, nothing will not remain in the Saudi treasury and the Saudi economy will freeze” and added, “Economically, to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the people must tolerate an era of austerity which, in my opinion, will cause severe dissatisfaction.”
Sayyed-Afeghi added, “There is no doubt that ibn Salman will seriously harm Saudi Arabia regarding domestic issues and on the other hand, will eliminate the unity among the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf. The deterioration of the regional and international situation for the Saudi regime is also very likely during ibn Salman’s era.”
He described ibn Salman’s comments on bringing the war to Iran as “bluff” and as “hollow” and stated, “Saudi Arabia has not yet managed to manage the crisis in Bahrain and Yemen and Iran’s recent missile attack against the Daesh terrorist forces whom the US has trained in Dayr al-Zawr will somewhat collect their senses so that ibn Salman and his companions do not repeat such statements.”
Sayyed-Afeghi noted that it’s likely the Americans and Zionists will seek to persuade ibn Salman to engage in an adventure against Iran to make us forget the situation of the region but not in a direct manner.
“It’s possible that they will encourage some of their mercenaries in Iran to carry out attacks similar to Daesh’s recent attacks on the Islamic Consultative Assembly and on the mausoleum of Imam Khomeyni. This is the maximum that Saudi Arabia can do in Iran and it’s very unlikely that they will directly engage in a military engagement with Iran because any direct confrontation with Iran would be an attack on Saudi Arabia itself,” he said.
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