Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) has accused former U.S. President Barack Obama of providing Iran with $150 billion during his administration, alleging that the funds were used for military purposes rather than domestic development.
In statements made recently, Prince MbS claimed that the money, intended as part of the Iran nuclear deal, was used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to produce missiles and drones, and to finance groups such as Hamas, Ansar Allah, and Hezbollah. He also alleged that Iran offered safe harbor to Al Qaeda leaders, including one of Osama Bin Laden’s sons, whom he said was indoctrinated into jihadism.
Prince MbS further criticized key figures in Obama’s administration, including Hillary Clinton, Victoria Nuland, and Samantha Power, accusing them of pursuing policies aimed at keeping the Middle East destabilized and preventing Gulf states and Israel from achieving economic growth. He linked these strategies to the Arab Spring, claiming it triggered a refugee crisis that destabilized Europe.
He expanded his critique to broader U.S. foreign policy, alleging that similar approaches were attempted in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Georgia, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland, through agencies such as USAID.
Prince MbS described these actions as part of a deliberate strategy to maintain a “unipolar world order” under what he called the “neoliberal agenda,” asserting that chaos was politically advantageous to certain U.S. actors, while peace was not.
The comments are likely to reignite debate over the impact of the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
