Al Monitor | Ali Hashem: The recent changes in Saudi leadership were not a surprise to Iran. “We all knew this was coming. It was only a matter of time,” a senior Iranian official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.





In fact, last October, long before the appointment of Mohammed bin Salman as Saudi Arabia’s new crown prince, Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani told a gathering in Tehran, "Mohammed bin Salman, the second crown prince, is in a hurry and wants to set aside the first one [Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef], and might even kill his own father to replace him.” The Iranian major general recalled a conversation that allegedly took place between Mohammed and a Syrian official in Russia sometime in 2016, quoting the Syrian official as saying that the Saudi royal “asked about [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad, how he is, how his family is.”

Soleimani continued, “The Syrian official then said, ‘When I saw that the atmosphere is very good, I said that Daesh [Islamic State] is a public threat against all of us, let’s join each other to fight them.’ Bin Salman replied, ‘This is nothing. We will finish Daesh and Jabhat al-Nusra in just one day, don’t worry about that. You have only one problem; your problem is having a relationship with Iran. You end that relationship and take stances against them, then all this will be over.'"

Mohammed’s view of Iran as the region’s main problem worries Tehran. The Saudi crown prince’s harsh words against the Islamic Republic and his open perceived threat in May to take the battle into Iran have prompted Iranian decision-makers to respond by adopting stronger positions against Riyadh. A second Iranian official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “Saudi Arabia is today in one of its worst phases. Maybe for the first time in decades, this kingdom is under threat of collapse from within; they are seriously facing a leadership crisis. Nations can’t be ruled by inexperienced adventurers, and this is the case with the new crown prince.”

The Iranian official elaborated, “For the immediate interests of Iran, all of what bin Salman is doing might have a positive impact — just look at the last adventure with Qatar. He risked the unity of the Persian Gulf countries to impose his views on his neighbor, and what next? He himself doesn’t know what to do next, and this is the worst thing.” In Yemen, the official added, Ansar Allah (the Houthis) wasn’t very close to Iran, “but now with all the Saudi bombs falling on their heads, Iran is becoming the only friend of the Yemeni people because we might be the only country openly showing sympathy with them. Iran wants friends everywhere, even in Saudi Arabia, but the Saudis nowadays are very good at making enemies.”


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