The young crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman made an audacious but risky power play this weekend, arresting 11 princes, four ministers and several dozen others while simultaneously accusing Iran of an “act of war”.
Prominent millionaire investor Alwaleed bin Talal is among those being held - a move not unlike the US “arresting Warren Buffett or Bill Gates”, diplomat Robert Jordan, a former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told CNBC.
Some Saudi watchers believe a coup attempt was uncovered, or may have begun, and that Crown Prince Mohammed crushed it. “All those suspected of being involved are now being purged,” says The New York Times.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The mass arrests – under the guise of an anti-corruption campaign – come after other eye-raising changes in the kingdom, including new limits on the powers of the state’s religious police, and a royal decree allowing women to drive.
“This is very risky,” a Saudi business leader told The Washington Post, noting that MbS – as the 32-year-old Crown Prince is known – is challenging senior princes and religious conservatives simultaneously. “He’s fighting too many wars at once.”
Indeed, the prince is fighting internally and externally.
Saudi state media “lashed out” at Iran today over the firing of a ballistic missile toward Riyadh by Houthi rebels in Yemen, reports Al Jazeera English. Saudi Arabia accuses Tehran of being behind the missile and has labelled it a potential “act of war”.
Tehran rejects the Saudi claim, the latest in “a multifronted confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran which is playing out on political and military battlefields throughout the region, including Lebanon, Syria and Yemen”, says The Daily Telegraph.
The outcry follows the shock resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who delivered his resignation speech from the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday. Hariri cited Iranian influence across the region and said he was stepping down because he feared suffering the same fate as his assassinated father.
His resignation has “raised worries that the Gulf kingdom, under the leadership of its increasingly bullish Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, will squeeze Lebanon as a way to get to Iran’s proxy in the country, Hezbollah”, says The Washington Post.
Hezbollah, founded with Iranian support in 1982 to resist the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, has emerged as a regional power, to the consternation of Saudi Arabia.
The events of the past few days have led to parallels being drawn with the television show Game of Thrones, which follows a complex web of alliances and conflicts among noble families vying to either claim the throne or gain their independence from it.
“If this is an Arabian game of thrones, the headstrong young prince, who seeks to embody the pent-up aspirations of a people two-thirds of whom are under 30, has left no one in doubt he means to win,” David Gardner writes in the Financial Times.
“The weekend’s momentous events will inevitably revive the febrile speculation that King Salman, 81, is preparing to abdicate in MbS’s favour. All eyes are still on the throne.”
-
Out of office: microretirement is trending in the workplaceThe explainer Long vacations are the new way to beat burnout
-
Will California tax its billionaires?Talking Points Proposed one-time levy would shore up education, Medicaid
-
Blue Origin launches Mars probes in NASA debutSpeed Read The New Glenn rocket is carrying small twin spacecraft toward Mars as part of NASA’s Escapade mission
-
Why these Iraqi elections are so importantThe Explainer The US and Israel are increasingly pressuring Baghdad to tackle Iran-backed militants, while weakened Iran sees Iraq as a vital remaining ally
-
Israel arrests ex-IDF legal chief over abuse video leakSpeed Read Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi had resigned from her post last week
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
‘Extraordinary asymmetry’: the history of Israeli prisoner swapsIn The Spotlight Exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian detainees is the latest in a series of trades in which Israeli lives appear to count for more
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
Israel targets Hamas leaders in Qatar airstrikeSpeed Read Hamas said five low-level leaders were killed in the attack
