AGSIW Non-Resident Fellow Fahad Nazer commented on last week’s suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia. Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Nazer said “Three attacks in 24 hours suggests that there is a concerted campaign, a deliberate attempt to create a sense of instability and uncertainty in Saudi Arabia. He continued, “But it’s not surprising. [Islamic State has] made it clear that Saudi Arabia, for them, is the ultimate prize because of its status in the Islamic world.” He reiterated this point in an interview with PRI, but added that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) “certainly have tried to foment sectarian discord in Saudi Arabia by targeting the Shia minority in the eastern province, and I think they have largely failed.” In an interview with Bloomberg, Nazer noted that ISIL “has long made it apparent that it has no moral red lines. It is cut from the same cloth as the militants who laid siege to the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979. That group had no compunction about shedding Muslim blood in Islam’s most hallowed ground. Neither does ISIS.’’ Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, Nazer said, “Even Al Qaeda, which is certainly brutal in its own right, has never targeted Muslims in their houses of worship. ISIS has done that repeatedly.” He continued, “The sanctity of both Mecca and Medina is one that the overwhelming majority of Muslims believe in. There’s an understanding that an attack on these cities is the gravest sin.”

Also addressing the attacks, AGSIW Non-Resident Fellow Sigurd Neubauer discussed how Saudi Arabia would likely respond, in an interview with Al Jazeera. He noted, “this is going to be a test for Saudi Arabia’s young and untested deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.” He continued, “he announced in late December last year a new Saudi-led anti-terrorism coalition that essentially brought together partners from across the Muslim world and this will be the first test of how Saudi Arabia, with its international partners, will be able to tackle, really, this global phenomenon of extremism that is really bringing its latest fight to the doorstep of the most holy sites in Islam.”