Few Dull Moments in the Middle East

"A sizable percentage of our budget, we discovered, was being stolen. And this cannot stand. Where you have corruption, you cannot have justice, you cannot have investment, you cannot have efficient and transparent government."
Saudi Arabian foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir

"The potential scale of corrupt practices which have been uncovered is very large. Based on our investigations over the past three years, we estimate that at least $100bn has been misused through systematic corruption and embezzlement over several decades."
"The evidence for this wrongdoing is very strong."
"There has been a great deal of speculation around the world regarding the identities of the individuals concerned and the details of the charges against them. In order to ensure that the individuals continue to enjoy the full legal rights afforded to them under Saudi law, we will not be revealing any more personal details at this time."
Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb 

Those caught up in the anti-corruption drive are reportedly being held at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton   Reuters

Saudi Arabia appears to have been shaken from its traditional sense of complacency. Its vast oil reserves no longer command the riches in returns that they were long accustomed to, with the devaluation of oil on energy markets and the rise of the United States' fossil fuel reserves thanks to fracking and drilling in previously-protected environments, along with the bad odour that oil has been regarded with, thanks to the actions of environmental groups; governmental, international and through NGO activities aided by public celebrity figures dedicated to the fight against global warming.

The Obama administration, late in its second stint, shifted its alliances, leaving Sunni Muslim states and primarily Saudi Arabia bewildered and forgotten as negotiations went forward with the Islamic Republic of Iran on its disputed nuclear file, and the U.S. appeared through its action/inaction to somehow favour Shiite Muslim countries and groups. Despite being in the Muslim majority, Sunnis now feel exposed and vulnerable to the power machinations of Iran, with its covert activities and manipulation of its proxy terrorist groups in destabilizing the Middle East.

From the Houthi rebels in Yemen against whom Saudi Arabia formed a coalition to bomb the poverty-stricken nation roiled in civil war, to Iraq and Syria, the former majority Shiite, the latter minority Shiite, both managing to violently suppress the equal rights of their Sunni Muslims in a part of the world that generally doesn't recognize human rights, let alone equal rights, and with Lebanon, Qatar and Turkey playing a middle role with Russian intervention, Saudi Arabia sees Iran gaining the upper hand in influence and confidence that it will succeed in the conquest it seeks.

Lebanon is now being focused on as a potential next hot-spot, a country where the disparate sectarian parts of its entirety once lived in an atmosphere of suspicious amity toward one another while the country prospered but fell into hard times of reawakened awareness of traditional hatreds when the PLO established its camps there and the terrorist group Hezbollah had its awakening thanks to Iran, as the Party of God and uncivil war erupted. Occupied by Syria, Iran, Israel, with UN peacekeeping groups from France and the U.S. the country became a shambles, a spectre of its former self.

Wherever Iran has intervened, violent destabilization has resulted. Under Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, changes and interventions have arisen. The bombing of the Yemen Houthis accomplishing nothing but misery for Yemenis was his idea, the sequestering of Qatar for its acquiescence to Iran, and now the arrest of several hundred Saudis representing Saudi royalty, officials, billionaire businessmen and others in a purported corruption sweep is roiling the entire Middle East.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman has established a new anti-corruption body.  AP: Vincent Thian

Iran is most certainly behind all the turmoil unfolding in the Middle East. The only non-Arab Muslim country in the geography has its malevolent trade marks over all that occurs there as it manoeuvres to become the region's leading political and religious leader. According to Saudi observer Thomas Lippmann the surprise arrests under the guise of anti-corruption action is in reality the Crown Prince's bid to ensure that his rivals for the throne on the death of his father King Salman cannot trump his candidacy.

Suddenly discovering that corruption is widespread as a ruling measure of business and personal achievement of wealth belies the reality that what is viewed as corruption and rampant nepotism as members of the royal family vie for plum posts to further enrich themselves is merely how business is done in Saudi Arabia, along with the expectations of entitlements. While state coffers receive their due, so too do the Saudi players that represent the ruling class, both royal and business tycoons.

It's quite obvious that Iran overplayed its hand when Yemen's Houthis launched a ballistic missile toward Riyadh, where it was shot down by the Saudis as it flew over the international airport near the capital. But this was representative of Iran's malicious jubilation at the vision of Saudi unravelling, a shot across the bow of a rival, that has cost Iran nothing, and Yemen everything as its land, sea and airports have been closed, even though the Saudis are growling at Iran's "act of war".

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives French President Emmanuel Macron in Riyadh. the capital Riyadh. Picture: AFP/Saudi Royal PalaceSource:AFP