Saudi King Abdullah Dead at 91…

Saudi state media has reportedly confirmed that the King of Saudi Arabia, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, is dead. Abdullah was long known to be in ill-health. According to reports, Abdullah has been succeeded by Prince Salman, Abdullah’s half-brother, and a son of Saudi founder Ibn Saud. Salman is in his 70s. Salman is a member of the so-called “Sudairi Seven,” after their mother, whose powerful al-Sudairi clan hails from the Nejd region of Saudi Arabia. The faction is considered a powerhouse within internal Saudi palace politics. In recent years reports have noted that Salman suffers from dementia.

His death comes at a particular bad time for Saudi Arabia, as just today Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have apparently forced the Yemeni president to resign, throwing the country into chaos.  Saudi Arabia has always viewed Yemen as a sort of vulnerable soft underbelly to their own Kingdom, and instability there has been viewed as a threat, which has led to Saudi military interventions in Yemen on multiple occasions, most recently in 2009 against the very same Houthis that now dominate Sana’a.

Of the major threats facing the Kingdom both Iran, and The Islamic State are likely to place particular significance on both of these events and their timing. Yemen plays a role in both Shia Twelver and Sunni Jihadist ideology, and Saud’s death and chaos in Yemen will no doubt be a highly motivating factor for both.

While Salman is clearly not in the best position to exert strong leadership for the House of Saud given his own health issues, he can rely on the internal networks of the Sudairi Seven within the government establishment. Whether that, taken together with the pressure of the external threats will be enough to insure a united Saudi response  remains to be seen.