Is
Saudi Arabia Pivoting Toward Iranian MEK?
Saudi Arabia’s Prince Turki al-Faisal is used
to being the point man in a difficult situation. In 1979, a group of radical
extremists occupied the holy mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site. Turki
al-Faisal, then Saudi Arabia’s chief spy, was one of the first to arrive in the
city. He was nearly shot when a bullet slammed into a door he was opening. In
the 1980s, Turki al-Faisal led Saudi efforts in support of the Afghan
mujahedeen in their war against the Soviet occupiers. As ambassador to the
United States from 2005–07, Turki al-Faisal was the Saudi point man in
Washington during a difficult period in American-Saudi relations. During this
tenure he visited thirty-seven states advocating for a robust Saudi-American
relationship.
Turki al-Faisal appears to be Riyadh’s point
man once again. Last month, the former head of Saudi intelligence called for
the overthrow of the Islamic Republic at a meeting of the Iranian opposition in
Paris. His remarks coupled with recent diplomatic moves signal a new tougher
policy toward Iran from Saudi Arabia. Though officially retired from
government, no member of the royal family had ever so publicly embraced the
Iranian opposition or called for regime change in Tehran.
A Sunni Arab kingdom and a Shia Iranian
national liberation organization make unusual alliance partners. Though Saudi
Arabia has supported some Shia groups in the Iraq, the evolving MEK-Saudi
alliance prove again that realpolitik and geopolitical concerns trump sectarian
differences across the Middle East. An estimated audience of one hundred
thousand made the trek to a massive hallway (often used for the Paris Air show)
to hear him and other speakers at an event. The annual rally is organized by
the Iranian opposition group known as the People’s Mujahedeen or more commonly
by the English initials: MEK. Turki al-Faisal’s remarks on July 9 were followed
on July 30 by a meeting between the head of the MEK and the President of the
Palestine Authority Mahmoud Abbas in Paris.
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