On June 21, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has appointed his son, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, as the crown prince, replacing his nephew, Mohammed bin Nayef.
Meanwhile, Iranian state media called the appointment of Mohammed Bin Salman to the position of crown prince and successor to Saudi Arabia's King Salman as a "soft coup"."Soft coup in Saudi Arabia/son becomes the succesor of the father", read the headline on the Iranian state TV website.
Prince Mohammed, a son of the late Crown Prince Nayef who had served as interior minister since 1975 until his death from a heart attack in 2012, had been closely identified with the formidable and effective security structure built by his father.
Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, took an assertive stance early on. Many Saudis opined that the new changes would help in achieving the objectives of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 more effectively.
Unsafe regional conflicts are also a challenge, as Saudi Arabia and Iran compete for dominance in countries like Yemen, Saudi's southern neighbor, which has been devastated by a Saudi-led air campaign to quell an uprising that the Saudis say is backed by Iran.
It suggests the kingdom is set on a path of economic reform and gradual liberalisation. Bloomberg News reported that calculations by HSBC Holdings Plc predicting the kingdom's shares could see inflows of around $9 billion next year if the MSCI grants emerging market classification. The couple dined again with Prince Mohammed at his home during the President's visit to Saudi Arabia in May, a White House official said.
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The eighth round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship - the 2017 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix started today in Baku. It was only fitting that Alonso had to retire with an engine problem in practice as well.
Prince Mohammed is now defence minister, giving him command of one of the world's biggest arms budgets and making him ultimately responsible for Saudi Arabia's military adventure in Yemen.
He tweeted that he'd told the kings, presidents and prime ministers he met in Saudi Arabia that funding "Radical Ideology" can't be tolerated, and "Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!"
As Slate's Josh Keating explained in 2015, the process of succession in Saudi Arabia is different from other existing monarchies in the world today.
The White House said Trump discussed with him "the priority of cutting off all support for terrorists and extremists, as well as how to resolve the ongoing dispute with Qatar".
As far as pure oil strategies are concerned, the new crown prince was already overseeing those, and is in charge of the Saudi plan to list a small stake in Aramco, expected to take place some time next year. Iran and Saudi Arabia's rivalry has played out in proxy wars across the region and has deepened Sunni-Shiite enmity between hard-liners on both sides. He is also said to be behind some of the major diplomatic initiatives undertaken by Saudi Arabia including his parleys with the new USA administration, which led to the epoch-making visit of President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia.
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