Saudi pundits have reacted positively to Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s recent comparison of Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei to Hitler in an interview with the New York Times.
Bin Salman said that the Saudis aren’t interested in seeing Hitler’s attempt to take over Europe repeat itself with the “new Hitler of the Middle East,” meaning Khamenei.
Gulf Sunni social media commentators seemed pleased with the crown prince’s unusual comments.
Saudi political researcher and author Fahed Dibaji wrote, “Hitler is more respectable than Khamenei. What they share is the destruction of mankind. The former wasn’t a Muslim and the latter claims he is a Muslim. Hitler was courageous and took everyone on, but Khamenei is a treacherous and manipulative coward. Hitler fought with an army he built and Khamenei fought with his pawns.”
Saudi businessman Mohammed al-Mansory wrote, “Of course the attempt to please in this case will not succeed. We don’t want a new Hitler in Iran like there was in Europe. It’s happening now in the Middle East. Yes, it’s him, the determined Mohammad (the crown prince). May Allah protect him.”
Kuwaiti journalist Saleh Rashed wrote, “Khamenei’s program has destroyed Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the entire region.”
In other posts, Rashed uploaded two video clips, one showing an old Iranian woman cursing Khamenei and another showing an old woman in the destroyed Syrian city of Aleppo. According to Rashed, such scenes are the result of Khamenei’s leadership.
Saudi sports journalist Adel al-Twaijri just wrote, “We don’t want another Hitler.”
Kuwaiti soccer player Khaled al-Shamry posted a video of Shi’ite militia members forcing Yemenite soldiers to kiss their feet and wrote, “Khamenei is a new Hitler. Look at the evil of Khamenei’s grandchildren.”
Saudi economy journalist Adwan al-Ahmari criticized those in the media who attacked the crown prince’s comments by claiming that he was trying to please Israel: “New joke: Mohammad Bin Salman’s comparison between Khamenei and Hitler is an attempt to wink at Israel! We’re standing before a professional and moral crisis in Arabic media and in the face of the new phenomenon ‘Saudi-phobia.'”
Algerian analyst and media personality Anwar Malek wrote, “Khamenei is a new Hitler. It’s a perfect description that the entire world must examine and act against. The new Nazism applied by Iran in a number of Arab countries through its Revolutionary Guard, militias and terrorist organizations, has reached a pinnacle of barbarism and cruelty.”