Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince called the Supreme Leader of Iran "the new Hitler of the Middle East" in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday (November 23), sharply escalating the war of words between the arch-rivals.

The Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Shi'ite theocracy Iran back rival sides in wars and political crises throughout the region.

The Economic Times reported on Friday (November 24) thatMohammed bin Salman, who is also Saudi defense minister in the U.S.-allied oil giant kingdom, suggested the Islamic Republic's alleged expansion under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei needed to be confronted.

"But we learned from Europe that appeasement doesn't work. We don't want the new Hitler in Iran to repeat what happened in Europe in the Middle East," the paper quoted him as saying.

BDST: 1730 HRS, NOV 24, 2017
EHJ