Iran Supreme Leader ‘new Hitler’ says Bin Salman

Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei greets the crowd during the ceremony marking the 28th death anniversary of Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in Tehran, Iran on 4 June, 2017 [Supreme Leader Press Office/Anadolu Agency]

The war of words between Riyadh and Tehran reached new heights after Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salam called the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “the new Hitler of the Middle East”.

Bin Salman made the controversial remarks during an interview published in the New York Times yesterday, in which the 32-year-old Prince discussed his country’s reform agenda and confronting the threat from Iran.

Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia (1L) [Bandar Algaloud/Anadolu Agency]

Iran’s “supreme leader is the new Hitler of the Middle East”, Bin Salman said. “But we learned from Europe that appeasement doesn’t work. We don’t want the new Hitler in Iran to repeat what happened in Europe in the Middle East.”

During his interview, Bin Salman explained that Saudi Arabia was a “moderate” country before the 1979 Iranian revolution. “There were musical theatres, there was mixing between men and women, there was respect for Christians and Jews in Arabia,” Bin Salman said.

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Saudi officials, present during the interview took out their cell phones and shared pictures of Saudi Arabia from the 1950s to emphasise the extent to which the Kingdom had been impacted by the religious extremism emanating from Tehran. They showed images of women without heads coverings, wearing skirts and walking with men in public, as well as concerts and cinemas. The New York Times concluded that “it was still a traditional and modest place, but not one where fun had been outlawed, which is what happened after 1979”.

It suggested that the anti-pluralism, extremism, misogyny and intolerance of the Kingdom were a “virus” that had been transported from Iran and Bin Salman’s modernisation agenda would reverse this tide. One of the Saudi officials even complained saying: “My generation was held hostage by 1979. I know now that my kids will not be hostages.”

Bin Salman also gave his backing for the new US administration saying that President Donald Trump was “the right person at the right time”.

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