About this episode

Mark Dubowitz and Bernard Haykel discuss Saudi Arabia's stance on Iran's nuclear ambitions and the implications for U.S. policy in the Gulf.

Riyadh is pressing Washington with a blunt message: don't leave the job half-finished. Saudi Arabia publicly condemned the strikes — and privately urged Trump to launch them. Now MBS faces the question he's long telegraphed: if Iran gets a bomb, the Kingdom follows. With IAEA inspectors locked out, is that still a signal — or active policy? Bernard Haykel, Princeton's foremost scholar of the Arabian Peninsula and author of the forthcoming book, The Realm: MBS and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia , joins Mark Dubowitz to break down what Riyadh wants, what it's willing to do, and what Washington still misunderstands about the man running the Kingdom.

People in this episode

Host: Mark Dubowitz

Guest: Bernard Haykel

Topics covered

• Saudi Arabia
• Iran
• nuclear policy
• Middle East
• U.S. foreign policy
• MBS
• Gulf relations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Princeton, Saudi Arabia, IAEA

Places: Tehran, Washington, Kingdom

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