Saudi king sacks nephew, appoints son Crown prince

President Trump called the newly-installed crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, to “congratulate him on his recent elevation”, the White House announced Wednesday. Iran’s State TV called it a “soft coup”, and analysts said Iran is anxious that MBS could pursue a more aggressive policy against Iran. The semiofficial news agency Fars dubbed it a “political earthquake” and wrote that Nayef had been “ousted”.

Dubbed by Washington insiders as “the prince of counter-terrorism”, Mohammed led the crackdown that crushed al-Qaeda’s cells in Saudi Arabia between the years of 2003 and 2007.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s rapid ascent is seen by the younger generation as a sign that things are changing.

Mohammed bin Nayef was also stripped of his positions as deputy prime minister and interior minister after being removed as second in line to the throne of the world’s biggest oil exporter.

“Soft coup in Saudi Arabia”, ran the front page headline in Kayhan, a hard-line paper whose editor is appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mohammed bin Salman has been described as particularly “reckless” in the past, both in economic and military policy.

Jared Kushner with his wife Ivanka Trump during US President Donald Trump’s visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

That the royal succession in the world’s top oil exporter is closely scrutinized only makes the rapidity of MbS’s rise to power, and the speed with which his better known cousins were brushed aside, more astonishing. He also led a multi-nation effort to isolate neighbouring Qatar, causing a rift among fellow members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The decree also had bin Salman replace bin Nayef as deputy prime minister.

But, analysts say, Saudi Arabia has also had some foreign policy missteps. It also suggests a harder foreign policy line for the key US ally in the region.

He stressed that Washington does not care much about who is ruling in Saudi Arabia, adding the United States is only concerned with its own political and economic interest in the region. The vision aims to diversify the Saudi economy and reduce its dependence on oil among other social and economic objectives.

Intent on dispelling speculation of internal divisions in the ruling dynasty, Saudi television was quick to show that the change in succession was amicable and supported by the family. He had, however, been reported intermittently to be in very poor health.