Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued a royal decree earlier in the day to replace Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud with his own son.
Saudi Arabia and its allies have drawn up a list of demands to be presented to Qatar, the United States said Wednesday, as President Donald Trump discussed the regional crisis with new Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
He has been defence minister and in charge of a wide-ranging economic portfolio.
The king also stripped 57-year-old Prince Mohammed bin Nayef - MbS' cousin - of his title as crown prince and removed him from his position as the kingdom's interior minister. The two countries support opposite sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
According to Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, Saudi Arabia is "absolutely committed" to sticking to the OPEC deal regardless of the succession shuffle.
He is the main champion of the kingdom's Vision 2030 reform plan to bring social and economic change to the oil-dependent economy of a country where women's rights are among the most restricted in the world.
It is clear that Iran will respond to a more aggressive approach by the U.S. and its main Sunni Muslim-Arab ally in a confrontation. Iran and Saudi Arabia are embroiled in a regional struggle for political and religious influence.
Iran's leadership, which called Prince Mohammed's promotion a "soft coup", was critical of comments the prince made last month, with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei labeling Saudi leaders as "idiots". His elevation to Crown Prince ends a behind-the-scenes struggle for power and answers what would happen to his plans for Saudi Arabia when King Salman, now 81, dies or steps aside.
Iran's Rouhani voices support for Qatar amid "siege"
Iran has called the Saudi-led economic siege of Qatar unacceptable and has called for dialogue to solve the diplomatic crisis. The US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said the countries should now "sit together and continue this conversation".
"His view is that Saudi Arabia absorbed those blows and now there's no reason to absorb them anymore", Malley said.
Mohammed bin Nayef was once a towering figure credited with crushing al-Qaida's cells in Saudi Arabia. Despite his longstanding Washington ties, it was Mohammed bin Salman, who embarked on major overseas visits, including a trip to the White House to meet Trump in March.
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".
Financial analysts said the change gave further assurance that key parts of radical reforms to diversify the Saudi economy beyond oil would continue.
"The strengthening of relations with the Trump administration is the beginning of a new and optimistic time between Saudi Arabia and regional states, including Israel and the Jewish people", Kara (pictured above) said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia has a new heir to the throne after its ruler changed his line of succession.
Princes of regions received scholars, state-officials and citizens because of King Salman's keenness on everyone's comfort and based on his wish to facilitate the process so they don't have to travel to Mecca.
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