Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, CDHR, Washington DC

May 22, 2023

Alarm Over 'imminent executions' / Saudi/Iranian Rapprochement

CDHR’s Analysis and Commentaries

MBS: Do or Die?

CDHR Commentary: The UN Human Rights Council implored Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to spare the lives of  Saudi tribesmen who contested his expulsion order to throw them out of their centuries-old habitat to make room for his futuristic project, NEOM. MBS’s ordering expulsion of the Howeitat tribe, incarcerating some of them, and sentencing some to death is triggered by more than making room for his dream city. Like all members of the Saudi ruling clan, MBS believes the country belongs to his autocratic ruling family exclusively, as publicly stated by former Interior Minister Prince Naif, ‘What we won by the sword, we will keep by the sword. MBS’s draconian policy of intimidating citizens and instilling intense fear of his ruthlessness is neither new nor unexpected, given his reliance on brutality since he was entrusted with all state powers shortly after the Salmans (king and sons) inherited the throne in 2015.  Read More »

 

Saudi/Iranian Rapprochement: Motives and Implications 

CDHR Analysis: The recent Chinese-brokered rapprochement between the Saudi autocracy and Iranian theocracy has sparked guarded optimism and skepticism in the Middle East and beyond. Interpretations of this rapprochement by analysts and interest groups vary. They focus on whether the agreement will survive, who benefits and who loses, depending on their interests and knowledge of the parties’ tainted histories. One aspect of the agreement analysts have ignored is the inevitable detrimental fallout of the rapprochement on the Iranian and Saudi people, many of whom are striving for freedom. Read More »