RIYADH: Reading tea leaves in the convoluted world of Saudi politics can be tricky. So, Moscow’s jubilation over the appointment of Mohammed bin Salman as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the next in line to the throne is intriguing. The Crown Prince whom King Salman dismissed, Mohammed bin Nayef (MbN), had held the post of Saudi Arabia’s interior minister continuously since 2012 and had years of experience in intelligence work. MbN used to be regarded as the most pro-American of the Saudi leadership. In February, Mike Pompeo made his first overseas tour as CIA chief to Riyadh to confer the George Tenet Medal on MbN in recognition of his “excellent intelligence performance in the domain of counter-terrorism and his unbound contribution to [realizing] world security and peace”. Just four months later, King Salman has dismissed MbN.
Presumably, Moscow would heave a sigh of relief that MbN has been retired. More importantly, Russian state news agency TASS promptly carried a report – quoting expert opinion, of course – that the new Crown Prince may be “ready to reach compromises concerning complex regional issues – the crises in Syria and Yemen.” The TASS report gave fulsome praise to MbS’ “political farsightedness by building trust-based dialogue with the Russian authorities, particularly with President Vladimir Putin”, which has taken the Saudi-Russian relations to “an unprecedented high in the past years”, and leading to a partnership that “opens the door to resolving conflicts in the Middle East.”
