Saudi Crown Prince MBS Moves to Exploit Vacuum Left By Iran

(Bloomberg) -- Shortly after Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun was chosen this month as its next president, giant banners of him and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman were unfurled on a building’s façade in the northern province of Akkar, hailing Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler as the “leader of the Arabs.”

The oil-rich kingdom and its 39-year-old leader — who backed Aoun to get the presidency — are emerging as one of the biggest winners in the fallout of the 15-month conflict in Gaza, which has tilted the balance of power in the Middle East against its longtime rival Iran. As a fragile ceasefire deal came into effect on Sunday, Tehran’s influence has been crippled, for now: its proxies in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories decimated, its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad deposed and its enemy Israel emboldened. Saudi Arabia is wasting no time filling the void.

"This is a clash between an ambitious young man who realizes the world is changing and an elderly cleric clinging to an outdated ideology that brought him to power," says Mustafa Fahs, a Beirut-based commentator who hails from a clerical family critical of the Islamic Republic, referring to the Saudi crown prince and Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, respectively.

Who ultimately prevails in this duel of visions for the region is of great consequence, not only for the two powers involved but also the rest of the world, including global investors betting on the crown prince's plans to expand Saudi Arabia's economy and reduce its reliance on oil. MBS, as he’s also known, is aware his success at home depends on the kingdom's surroundings being at relative peace and on board with his drive to move the region away from wars and economic failures to development and prosperity, added Fahs. Iran’s current struggles present a great opportunity to accelerate that shift.


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[Margery]

That is one seriously nasty young man. He's not fully in charge yet but his father the king is 88 and in poor health. MBS his crown prince effectively runs Saudi Arabia now.

It's interesting looking at how his father came to power, and how MBS has dealt with any threat to his father (and his own) grasp of power. Murder, imprisonment, intrigue, this guy does it all. He is the first child and first son of his father's third wife who is known for her ruthless streak in Arabian circles where ruthless streaks are a dime a dozen.

Looking at a brief synopsis of his career at Wiki has some interesting details worth remembering. Mohammed bin Salman - Wikipedia

This excerpt below was extremely interesting and lines up with MBS's usual methods of smiling to the West while eliminating competition in the manner of Saudi princes.

The princes mentioned in this next excerpt were the ones who could possibly have overthrown MBS's father, the King. Emphasis is mine.

The intelligence officer essentially figured MBS may have killed the previous King in order to ensure his father (King Salman) took the throne. It's worth noting that somehow his dad made it to Crown Prince after things happened to the other Crown Prince, which meant that his dad would become king someday, as long as some other Crown Prince upstart didn't manage a palace coup.

Arrest of Muhammad bin Nayef​

Muhammad bin Nayef was arrested on 6 March 2020, along with his half-brother Nawwaf bin Nayef and King Salman's brother Ahmed bin Abdulaziz. The three princes were charged with treason. The Saudi government claimed the princes were trying to overthrow Mohammed bin Salman

Accusations of poisoning attempt against King Abdullah​

In 2021, the former Saudi intelligence official Saad al-Jabri said in an interview with CBS that Mohammed bin Salman mentioned to Interior Minister Muhammad bin Nayef Al Saud plans to kill King Abdullah in 2014. This would allow Mohammed's father to take the throne.

Al-Jabri has called Mohammed "a psychopath, killer ... with infinite resources, who poses threat to his people, to the Americans and to the planet". Mohammed has rejected all allegations; the Saudi embassy called al-Jabri "a discredited former government official with a long history of [fabrication]".

Moving on, his religious files are equally interesting. He's taken on the Wahhabist clerics (who laid the foundations for 911 and Osama bin Laden) and removed their power base replacing it with his own people. Not exactly a poster child for Islam even as he poses as such. He is lethal to anyone opposing his rule, even while apparently easing up on women driving (prohibited until 2017)

and he's a friend of and supporter of Trump and Trump's son in law.

 

[mattfivefour]

At a geopolitical level, life can be very complicated. At a Christian level, we only have to look to God. Knowing He is in control means that we do not have to sweat the stuff that people in the world do. Praise God for that blessing!