Has Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seized Saudi Arabia’s complete control? Where is King Salman?

New Delhi: A power transfer appears to be taking place in Saudi Arabia in a very silent manner. While King Salman has been sidelined, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s power has increased significantly. In recent days, all major decisions related to Saudi Arabia have been made by MBS. Interestingly, the King has not played any formal role in these decisions.

King Salman didn’t attend meetings after 2024

In 2024, King Salman met with several world leaders, including Turkish President Erdogan, but in 2025, he did not meet with a single leader. He was even absent from US President Doland Trump’s event in 2025, which was widely discussed at the time.

So far this year, the top leaders of Turkey and Germany have visited Saudi Arabia, and Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) met with both leaders, while King Salman has been relegated to officially sending congratulatory messages.

Major policy decisions also being made by MBS

After the war between Iran and Israel, Mohammed bin Salman announced a defense deal with Pakistan. The entire deal was decided by the Crown Prince on behalf of Saudi Arabia. This was called a masterstroke by the Saudi Crown Prince. Under this deal, Saudi Arabia received a guarantee of nuclear security from Pakistan.

At the initiative of Mohammed bin Salman, the ban on alcohol sales in Saudi Arabia was lifted. The Crown Prince made this decision to increase revenue. The ban on alcohol had been in place in Saudi Arabia for a long time.

At the end of 2025, Saudi Arabia bombed Emirati ships to end the UAE’s dominance in Yemen. Not only that, a lot of money was spent to gain control of all of Yemen. This decision was also made by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

MBS handling diplomatic deals

In early January 2026, the US was planning an attack on Iran, but MBS called Doland Trump directly and reasoned that if the US attacked Iran and failed to overthrow Khamenei, Saudi Arabia would be in trouble. It is said that Trump then changed his mind.

Two days ago, the Saudi Crown Prince spoke to Russian President Putin on the phone. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is preparing to move closer to Israel under Mohammed bin Salman’s leadership.