Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s war of words against Iran seems to have had a unifying effect among usually divided Iranians. The 32-year-old prince adopted a particularly tough tone against Tehran during his March 19 interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," sparking Iranian anger both toward him and Saudi Arabia.
In the interview, Mohammed accused Iran of supporting terrorism, saying, “Many of the al-Qaeda operatives are protected in Iran. … This includes the son of Osama bin Laden, the new leader of al-Qaeda. He lives in Iran and works out of Iran. He is supported by Iran.” Mohammed also ridiculed the idea of Iran and Saudi Arabia being comparable in terms of military and economic strength and said, “Iran is not a rival to Saudi Arabia. Its army is not among the top five armies in the Muslim world. The Saudi economy is larger than the Iranian economy. Iran is far from being equal to Saudi Arabia.”
