In this May 14, 2012 file photo, then Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, left, speaks with his son Prince Mohammed as they wait for Gulf Arab leaders ahead of the opening of Gulf Cooperation Council, also known as GCC summit, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday, April 29, 2015 removed his half-brother from the post of crown prince and named his nephew, the country’s Interior Minister, in his place. The post of crown prince secures Prince Mohammed bin Nayef as the most likely successor to King Salman. AP
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday named his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as second in line to the throne under a high-level shakeup.
A royal decree said Prince Mohammed, in his early 30s, will “be deputy crown prince.”
He retains his position as minister of defense and head of the economic and development council, a coordinating body.
But the official SPA news agency reported that Prince Mohammed will no longer hold the crucial position of head of the royal court, a type of gatekeeper to the king.
That will go to Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Sualim, the agency said, citing a royal decree.
As chief of the royal court, Prince Mohammed held “a position of immense power in an absolute monarchy,” wrote Bruce Riedel, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who directs the Brookings Intelligence Project in Washington.
“He is the strong man in Saudi Arabia,” a Western diplomatic source said before Wednesday’s changes. “Look what this man is controlling.”
As defense minister, since late March Prince Mohammed has supervised a Saudi-led coalition’s air strikes against Iran-backed rebels in neighboring Yemen.
He oversees the kingdom’s security in conjunction with Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and Prince Miteb bin Abdullah — minister of the National Guard, a parallel army.
In Wednesday’s shakeup King Salman named bin Nayef as crown prince and heir to the throne. He will continue as interior minister.