The King of Saudi Arabia is all set to step down and hand over the crown to his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman next week, reports The Daily Mail.
The move is seen as the final step in 32-year-old Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s power grab, which began earlier this month with the arrests of more than 40 princes and government ministers in a corruption probe.
The report said King Salman will continue only as a ceremonial figurehead, handing over official leadership of the country to his son – often referred to as MBS.
‘Unless something dramatic happens, King Salman will announce the appointment of MBS as King of Saudi Arabia next week,’ according to the report.
‘King Salman will play the role of the queen of England. He will only keep the title “Custodian of the Holy Shrines”.’
The report further said that once crowned king, the prince will shift his focus to Iran, a long-standing rival oil empire to Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, with fears military action is possible.
He will also enlist the help of the Israeli military to crush Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia supported by Iran, according to the report.
‘MBS is convinced that he has to hit Iran and Hezbollah,’ he said. ‘Contrary to the advice of the royal family elders, that’s MBS’s next target. Hence why the ruler of Kuwait privately calls him “The raging Bull”.
‘MBS’s plan is to start the fire in Lebanon, but he’s hoping to count on Israeli military backing. He has already promised Israel billions of dollars in direct financial aid if they agree.
‘MBS can not confront Hezbollah in Lebanon without Israel. Plan B is to fight Hezbollah in Syria,’ said the report.
Last week the Prime Minister of Lebanon made what is believed to be a forced resignation on Saudi television after being summoned to Riyadh by Prince Mohammed.
Saad al-Hariri said in his resignation speech that he was afraid of being assassinated and accused Iran of working with Hezbollah.
Tensions have been rising between Saudi Arabia and Iran after the Saudi government blamed Iran for a foiled missile attack near Riyadh on November 4.
The rocket was fired from neighbouring Yemen and was heading towards the Saudi capital before it was shot down.
The Saudi foreign minister, Adel Jubair, said Iran was responsible and called the attack ‘an act of war’.
