Asharq Al-Awsat’s exclusive interview Sunday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, grabbed headlines across Arab and international media.
In a headline published on its website Sunday, the British Guardian said: “Saudi crown prince tells Iran: ‘We won't hesitate to deal with any threat.’”
The newspaper added: “Mohammed bin Salman speaks publicly for first time about latest tanker attacks amid fears of regional conflict.”
Under the headline “Saudi crown prince blames Iran for Gulf of Oman tanker attacks,” the American CNN network published a special coverage of the interview, in both its English and Arabic version.
It also highlighted the part on Saudi-US relations, which the Crown Prince described as “strategic”, adding that the Kingdom's ties with Washington would not be affected by "media campaigns or some stances here and there.”
The Washington Post wrote in one of its headlines: “Saudi crown prince accuses rival Iran of tanker attacks.”
In Brussels, several newspapers were interested in Asharq Al-Awsat’s interview, including the Flemish-speaking De Standaard newspaper, which quoted the Crown Prince as showing clear evidence of the Iranian regime’s policy and intentions to target the security and stability of the region.
The newspaper was also interested the Crown Prince’s remarks about the murder of Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi.
In the interview, Crown Prince Mohammed said: “Any party seeking to politically exploit the case must cease doing so and present whatever evidence it has to the courts in the Kingdom to help achieve justice.”
Yahoo news also published extracts from the interview under the headline, “Saudi Crown Prince warns against exploiting Khashoggi murder.”
As soon as the interview was published on Asharq Al-Awsat website, several foreign news agencies, including AFP, dpa and Reuters, began publishing “breaking” news of what he said.
AFP published several reports about the interview, including one under the headline, “Saudi Arabia committed to Aramco IPO: crown prince.”
The Turkish Anadolu Agency also published the Crown Prince’ interview in both its Arab and English version.
Arab media also hailed Asharq Al-Awsat’s interview. On its website, the London-based Al Hayat newspaper published the entire text of the interview, while several Egyptian and Emirati newspaper either published extracts or the entire text of the interview.
