A resurfaced clip of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly but bluntly warning about the danger posed by Iran’s supreme leader has been making the rounds, and conservative viewers should take notice rather than shrug it off as more cable noise. Popular commentator Dave Rubin highlighted the footage, reminding Americans that allies sometimes speak hard truths our own media refuse to say.
In the sit-down with 60 Minutes’ Norah O’Donnell, the crown prince did not mince words, likening Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s ambitions to the expansionism of Adolf Hitler and warning that the West ought not to ignore the signs. That is not hyperbole from a hawkish commentator; it was a sober assessment from a leader sitting in the heart of the region who watches Tehran’s proxies and ideology spread day after day.
He also delivered a clear nuclear deterrence warning: Saudi Arabia would pursue the same weapons if Iran were to develop a nuclear bomb, a candid line that exposes how fragile regional stability really is. Whether you agree with every Saudi policy or not, a pragmatic conservative understands that credible deterrence is the only language authoritarian regimes reliably respect.
It’s time to call out the political elites and media who still act surprised when Tehran makes threats and moves to fulfill them; naïveté and wishful thinking have real costs for American interests and our allies. The crown prince’s frankness should be a wake-up call for a United States that needs to stop apologizing for strength and start rebuilding deterrence with our trusted partners.
For those keeping score, the interview that produced these blunt admissions originally aired on 60 Minutes in March 2018, but its message has only grown more relevant as Iran’s regional aggression continues unabated. History isn’t kinder to fence-sitters, and every year of hand-wringing only hands our adversaries more leverage.
Patriots know we don’t get to outsource courage to pundits or diplomats who prefer slogans to strategy. If Washington wants to protect American lives and interests, it will stand shoulder to shoulder with regional partners who tell the truth about the enemy, rebuild deterrence, and stop rewarding bad actors with appeasement and concessions.
