MBS on relations with US and Iran, Yemen conflict

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman laid out the thinking behind his vision to transform the kingdom and his rejection of religious extremism in a wide-ranging interview broadcast across Saudi television channels late on Tuesday.

Bin Salman said that Saudi Arabia and the Biden administration in Washington were in agreement on most issues of mutual concern.

While no two countries were ever 100% in agreement on all issues, the kingdom and the Biden administration agreed on 90% of issues of mutual concern and disagreed on the remaining 10%, he explained.

President Joe Biden's administration has made clear it is recalibrating the US relationship with Saudi Arabia following four years of warm times with the Trump administration, including by ordering an end to US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

In the lengthy, late-night interview that stretched past midnight local time, the crown prince also expressed hopes for good relations with rival Iran.

"All what we are looking for is to have a good and special relationship with Iran," the 36-year-old prince said.

Tensions between the two stemmed from Iran's "negative actions", including its nuclear programme, its interference in regional conflicts and its ballistic missile programme.

When asked about the solution to the war in Yemen, he called on the Houthis to negotiate with other Yemeni parties, adding that the Saudi offer of a ceasefire and financial support remained valid.

Bin Salman spent most of the interview laying out a dizzying array of economic figures and milestones to explain why the government raised taxes, cut subsidies and embarked on unpopular austerity measures to hit targets in its so-called "Vision 2030" plan.

The interview was timed to mark five years since the launch of Vision 2030, which is his blueprint for transforming the kingdom from an oil-dependent, insular nation to an economic power that is open to the world as he prepares to one day inherit the throne from his 82-year-old father, King Salman.

Although the prince's international reputation remains damaged by the 2018 killing of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, he is popular among many Saudis for pushing through bold reforms.