Mohammad Bin Salman: Mideast could be ‘the next Europe’
Saudi crown prince says anti-graft measures were solely a domestic issue
In a 75-minute meeting at The Washington Post on Thursday, the last day of his fourday stay in Washington, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman fielded questions on a range of topics, from the war in Yemen to the Middle East peace process, Iran, his domestic reform agenda, and Saudi Arabia’s nuclear plans.
He said his primary concern was being able to enrich and use Saudi Arabia’s own uranium for use in power reactors, rather than buying it abroad. His country has more than 5 per cent of the world’s uranium reserves, and “if we don’t use it, it’s like telling us don’t use oil”. The United States, he said, would be invited to put in place laws and structures to make sure enriched uranium is not misused.
Prince Mohammad spoke at length about the prospects for economic growth in the Middle East, saying it could be “the next Europe” if a series of problems can be resolved.
He denied US media reports that he had claimed presidential son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner was “in his pocket” or that, when the two met in Riyadh in October, he had sought or received a green light from Kushner for massive arrests of allegedly corrupt members of the royal family and Saudi businessmen that took place in the kingdom shortly afterward.
The detentions were solely a domestic issue and had been in the works for years, the prince said.
While “we work together as friends, more than partners,” Prince Mohammad said, his relationship with Kushner was within the normal context of government-to-government contacts. He noted that he also had good relations with VicePresident Pence and others in the White House.
Although the meeting, conducted in English, was held off the record, the Saudi embassy later agreed that specified portions could be used in an article about the session.
Prince Mohammad, 32, met with President Donald Trump on Tuesday in the Oval Office and over lunch. He also spoke with a number of congressional leaders.
Even as Trump has said he is seeking increased investment and purchases of US military equipment and other products from Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammad has made clear that his primary mission here is to win US investor confidence in his country, along with technological and education assistance in his efforts to reform the ultraconservative kingdom.
China and Russia are vying with the United States to build components of new nuclear power plants in the kingdom, amid concerns here over a Saudi desire for uranium enrichment capability.
In an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes broadcast last Sunday, Prince Mohammad said that his country would build a nuclear weapon if Iran did.
On the Yemen war, Prince Mohammad said that Saudi Arabia had not passed up “any opportunity” to improve the humanitarian situation.
“There are not good options and bad options. The options are between bad and worse,” he said of the Yemen conflict with Iran-backed Al Houthi militia who overthrew the internationally-recognised government.