Saudi Arabia is the Middle East’s diplomatic capital
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman prides himself on strong relations with President Trump, but Mr. Trump’s second term is posing serious dilemmas for the young Saudi leader, known as MBS.
Mr. Trump wants low oil prices. Saudi Arabia needs high prices to fund its plan to wean the kingdom off oil.
Mr. Trump has resumed his maximum-pressure campaign against Iran, undermining the crown prince’s efforts to reduce tensions with Tehran that could lead the clerical regime to lash out at Saudi Arabia. Most disruptive is Mr.
Trump’s proposal to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East" by removing 2.2 million Palestinian inhabitants. The kingdom’s neighborhood is in turmoil. Syria’s new leader is struggling to keep his country from further splintering into warring fiefdoms.
Lebanon’s new president similarly seeks to quell Hezbollah terrorists. Israel struggles to free its hostages and eject Hamas terrorists from Gaza. Meantime, Israeli security officials privately insist that now is the time to strike Iran’s nuclear program.
U.S. attacks this week on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen raise the risk that Iran—or the Houthis—may retaliate against Saudi oil targets. If these external problems aren’t enough, the crown prince faces falling oil prices, rising budget deficits and tepid foreign direct investment at home.
This constellation of chaos puts at risk his costly new developments—and the oil wealth that has funded them. Saudi security officials express fear that Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, even if successful, likely would bring retaliation on Saudi Arabia, not on nuclear-armed Israel. While Israel has already destroyed Iran’s air defenses, Tehran still possesses plenty of
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