Crown Prince Mohammad said he did not want Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pictured last month, to 'repeat what happened in Europe' during World War II
The mutual animosity between Saudi Arabia and Iran does not appear to show any sign of abatement.
It is hardly surprising then that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince has described the Supreme Leader of Iran as 'the new Hitler of the Middle East'.
Mohammad bin Salman, 32, who is also Minister of Defence, said he did not want Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to 'repeat what happened in Europe' during World War II.
The controversial statement came after reports claim that his father King Salman is planning to step down and announce his son as his successor this month.
Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, 32 called Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 'the new Hitler of the Middle East'
The Crown Prince, made the comments in in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday, sharply escalating the war of words between the traditional rivals.
Usually, the Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Shi'ite theocracy Iran back rival sides in wars and political crises throughout the region.
Mohammad bin Salman suggested the Islamic Republic's alleged expansion under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei needed to be confronted.
'But we learned from Europe that appeasement doesn't work. We don't want the new Hitler in Iran to repeat what happened in Europe in the Middle East,' the paper quoted him as saying.
The 32-year-old heir to the Saudi throne is seeking to develop new industries to wean his country off its dependency on oil exports.
He has also taken some steps to loosen its ultra-strict social restrictions, scaling back the role of religious morality police and announcing plans to allowing women to drive next year.
He has announced wide plans for social and political reforms to the kingdom, which is ruled as an absolute monarchy with a powerful clergy that adheres to Wahhabism, an ultra-austere version of Sunni Islam.
No comments:
Post a Comment