Saudi Arabia’s then Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said that Turkey, Iran and “extremist religious groups” are “the contemporary triangle of evil”, Egypt’s Al-Shorouk newspaper reported on March 7.
The crown prince went further and accused Turkey of trying to reinstate the Islamic Caliphate, which had abolished when the Ottoman Empire collapsed.
Salman made his comments to the newspaper during a visit to the Egyptian capital of Cairo. He added that the dispute with Qatar could be long-lasting and compared it to the US standoff against Cuba. However, he played down the impact of the Saudi-Qatari tensions saying that Qatar is “smaller than a Cairo street.”
The crown prince’s statement reflects the current balance of power in the Middle East, which had started shifting from the Syrian crisis. Russia, Syria, Iran and Hezbollah formed a successfull alliance, which is de-facto winning in the ongoing war in Syria. Turkey is actively cooperating with the Hezbollah-Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance, thus, contributing to goals of Saudi Arabia’s key rival – Iran.
