Socalled Islamic State forced into what looks like full scale retreat another longer term conflict is intensifying with this saudi arabias ambassador young crown Prince Mohammed bin sound man confronting the other big power in the region that is of course in the two countries are already locked in a proxy conflict thats impacting lebanon and is devastatingly yemen but now the fear is that the two strands of islam they represent sunni and shia could be drawn into a greater conflagration so our question on quadriga this week is middle east tensions a new war and to discuss that question im joined here in the studio by. Senior editor with the service he says military support for saudi arabia is just as wrong as abandoning the nuclear deal also with us is freelance journalist an expert. Amazon asked from t w two why shes both a producer and an analyst shani can bring us the israeli perspective on things and she says in its ongoing struggle against iran its not saudi arabia that israel is working to but russia. For ok id like to begin with you if i might and of course the tensions between iran and saudi arabia go back a very very long way but why is this cold war now heating up why now. There is. A kind of explanation for that i should also say its not any kind of accord valar what we are seeing at the moment because cold war i think is valar of boards its more than that isnt really valar its a proclivity between both of them because you can also see in different parts of the rich in that country on think themselves against each other via you know i think there is two or three. Issues help us understanding this for example we have done our trauma in america. Plays a major role in this confrontation in this levitt because last year the saudis told perhaps Hillary Clinton will be dead u. S. President and he will follow the policy of the Foreign Policy of fair barack obama which was not as friendly as what we have seen under trump but trump is there done the other point is a defeat of this because now they have more. Room for showing this confrontation and theyre going to and not their high. Level of this tension in this and then you have also the nuclear deal nuclear deal may have helped it on to play a. More is trying the role in this region at that time. You know that it was weak and could not. Be revealed to saudi arabia but know they have money they can also support the military. Here and there and so in this region ok lets bring in peace peace peace what you got to add to that because my notion of what you know why now you know i wanted to add. Two sides obviously to this conflict saudi arabia and iran pretty thick and i think. One one point you would have to make is it has to do with the personality of the new strongman in saudi arabia the new crown prince. I think his personality shines through he the statements coming from saudi arabia are a lot more assertive a lot more confident some would argue even. Even reckless or even venturous. And. Said i mean for side arabia the nuclear deal with iran. That the west the u. S. And the other five nation state was was a wake up call they used to. You know that they can rely on the u. S. For protection but at that time and the obama administrations policies towards saudi arabia has become a lot more critical that was also new and in combination with the nuclear deal saudi arabia felt that they have to start to rely on their own resources that they have to. Take charge of their own security and of their interests and thats what you see you know a lot more assertive for all coming from saudi arabia which clearly fueled the conflict with iran ok charlie rose on this from the israeli perspective israel coped very much between the fronts in this cold in the simmering conflict with us not feel for the people of israel well israel is always an edge worries always looming thats the feeling and when it comes to iran is a threat thats nothing new i mean especially under president Prime Minister netanyahu its been repeating you know throughout that hes mentioning again and again is as his big goal for his administration is to sort of keep iran and bay and try to you know try to find all the possible ways to sort of curb iran not only their their Nuclear Aspirations but you know what he sees as their plot to sort of take over as much as they can of the muslim world and and have a strong foot put into the nearest parts of israel that is now syria and lebanon where so far he was only you know Lebanon Hezbollah was known to be a direct connection to iran that was something israel could have sort of understand and stand but now with new rules that in syria thats thats pushing the envelope a bit too far for the israelis thats the feeling and for nessa you know its very much the case it seems that the enemy of my enemy is my friend and thats the reason why israel is shifting ever closer exactly to saudi arabia exactly thats exactly that the only way to describe the connection between saudi arabia and israel its not great love that theres there i mean both sides are aware of the dangers the danger they might you know there isnt something dangerous and then to state it like israel being friends with any arab country definitely of saudi arabia but then at the same time the rivalry the hatred toward iran is just too big and lets not forget trump here again i mean Trumps Administration is holding very strong it has very strong connections both would saudi arabia and and israel. Sure that for example questioners trip to the middle east where he makes sure he visited riyadh but also jerusalem encouraging help that im sure youre nodding no. Opinion. For example that was there for the terror time in the last months that he was there in this i would be i would be a dark playing. Cards and i think that is there reason by no. And not the level of. Tension in the stage and. I agree i think the trump and miss fashion didnt play a helpful role its seemed that the visit from terror to to riyadh seem to go on the saudis and rather than to encourage to embolden exactly rather than trying to to to dampen the assertiveness so you know i think the drumbeat ministrations road was wasnt very helpful to. Just before we move on just give us an estimation of to what extent all that were talking about is being played out is a mirror is a reflection if you will of the great historic divide between the two strands of islam shia and sunni. Well its clear that iran feels its kind of like. Fits like a protector for the shiites in in the region and saudi arabia. Is starting to feel the same way. The king is called the custodian of holy sites meaning in mecca and medina so the. Conflict between the two nations is certainly fueled by religious under. That certainly plays a big role you know ok well weve talked about it already saudi arabia is currently in a massive process about the evil its being described as a revolution from above and its being led by one. In june of the elderly saudi king solomon been abdullas hes also dont pointed his son mohammad crown Prince Mohammed bin solomon is just thirty two years old and hes now considered the countrys de facto ruler. Hes carried out a purge of the ruling elite several hundred saudi princes government ministers and businesspeople have been arrested allegedly as part of an anticorruption drive. The crown prince is working to consolidate his power base and to carry out radical reforms. But he has not had much success in curbing the influence of iran saudi arabia continues to be bogged down in yemen civil war and now lebanon is flaring up again. The prince does have the support of the u. S. Washington sees the saudis as key strategic allies in the region. What role will the crown prince play in saudi arabias future. Mohammed been known to his friends im told as his close. Yes what can you tell us about him as a as a person is about. Well the first thing that striking is is hes very young is thirty two years old he always worked with his father the current king he was in his administration the current king was the governor before. The. Crown prince now and yes and to refer to what was all this is person secretary. The boss of the administration so he traveled very much in the shadow of his father his father became king he became. Became crown prince well we dont really know a lot of aside from that its clear he has the financial means in about last year bought a five hundred Million Dollars yacht so hes doing quite well and. But i mean its you cant underestimate what kind of a revolution he he started in saudi arabia to. Fight back radical islam to take on the islamic establishment. Clerics over. Women allowed to drive our women allowed into sports stadiums and so on that its a huge huge deal in saudi arabia its very new and its a huge deal ok what does what does what is wrong what are the iranians make of all this. You know for sure because the problem is the influence of saudi arabia if its really true the militarys top port which is really a big problem for iran not only for iran i think that is for the whole region because if you see there is a balance there is a balance and that is the reason why we did not have such a lot between iran and saudi arabia till now but not all of the having the support from united is they just explain again what exactly is it that is there is breaking that balance. The military support the militants offered of United States because not all day have more active role in the. Game and if you see. Been signed by mama been cited recently is it time is on our side if. I think about what it does mean is not only and trade in the direction iran you know its something that has in itself inherited because they are willing to show the cards. Be distributed. Hold yeah and. You can also play another game this game is no game although it does is a new game and in this new game we are going to play a major role in this confrontation. And also iran and shanny to the israelis view the crown prince in saudi arabia as somebody who is standing for renewal of his society is he a modernizer or does he have a darker agenda well honestly israelis dont really care too much about whats happening in south saudi arabia for them this is just a game its about the strategic aspect of it all and once saudi arabia becomes far more willing to come closer to israel then israel is using it for its own advantages as far as again israel is never really and has never really cared too much for human rights or any other thing that happening within the middle east in the sense that it was always clear to to is to say israel that you know it stands in very different opposite sides and where you know on the values it was interesting how thats kind of carried a line the other day said israel is happy to let riyadh leave the un to radiate alliance but not so happy to pay the political price of real cooperation with what is what could the political price all the Political Parties first of all matter how is it has the most right wing government weve ever seen in israel so of course this is nothing you know coming closer to a trip to the to the arab world is nothing that is taken so far only within his base but more than that that it seems to be understanding that the political process willing to pay is when it comes to the palestinians in the sense that they need to make some some show willingness for compromise when it comes to the Saudi Initiative which is quite old already but its a Prison Initiative that was bought out back on. About almost ten years ago and so this was something that is always managed to sort of dodge and avoid but theres a fear that when. When the price comes you know that the time to get paid to pay comes in the saudis will so were helping you with iran your fund you need to help us with the palestinians and that will be a bit of a tricky exchange for an intern you know to to be involved in okie dokie very interesting you mentioned during the break well be watching that short piece of about saudi arabia and the young crown prince you you had a comment that you wanted to make about the shia sunni divide in the relevance of that yes i think its theres no doubt it is important in understanding the undercurrents of whats happening in the middle east and how its you know how the alliances are being you know made but at the same time. Its a bit simplistic in the sense that if you look at places like turkey and look at places like pakistan you know these are places are actually coming closer to iran and these are sunni states and so what we basically saying is a complete to shuffle following the fall of isis following what was supposed to be the arab spring seventy years ago and and and im not sure that the old rules that we know still apply so easily to the situation and within that we can see and believable alliances like israel and saudi arabia to the new game is always a very dangerous world in the middle east indeed very much and we cannot forget russia as a very dominant force and the region while you know the americans kind of stepped took a step back and of course the vacuum was filled by the russians and and their interest far more than pampering iran or anything else is just keeping stable hand on syria and they will do whatever it takes and if that means keeping iran close they will also do that russia the influence of russia and all this the role of russia and all this tell us more russia placed at the moment very clear on huge to grow in the area and this in this region not only because of their. In iran and syria but more than that because because of the. Political of. Obama. Foreign policy of but uncle bob well has to bring their position in a much weaker as. To that and because of that russia could play a major role in this region busied know is there is the change shift to. Bridge in. Power. Russia not only in russia be in syria but also in iran but also in other parts are playing really. Ok we need to talk about iran we need to talk about lebanon a little bit more donald trump the u. S. President has described iran as a rogue state whose chief exports of violence bloodshed and chaos and iran is certainly pushing hard for regional dominance in the middle east but it is also negotiated with western countries including germany to reach a deal designed to prevent it from producing nuclear weapons. In july twenty fifteen huge crowds took to the streets in iran to celebrate an International Agreement on the countrys Nuclear Program six world powers lifted economic restrictions on iran in return for limits on the countrys Nuclear Program. Iran is now reasserting its influence in the region the saudis consider that a major threat. Iran supports rebel forces in the civil war in yemen the saudis backed the government. Iran has increased its influence in syria as a key ally of the assad regime. Iran has also increased its presence in lebanon through its shiite ally hizbollah this is the israelis are very worried. Will war break out again in lebanon. The result is the israelis are worried about the prospects of a possible war in lebanon is it likely is it inevitable this the feeling is that it is an inevitable its not a question of if the question of when and theres zero also seems to be consensus that now is not the time yet. Israels always been very loud about and clear about the fact that it will not tolerate any missiles you know being on the range of missiles from lebanon you know from hezbollah to israel and of course in there injure the northern part of israel but can also reach into the the most populated area in the center and then the biggest metropolitan of tel aviv so. In that in that aspect of course yes theres fear this great. Mostly you know were talking about the middle east as a new game with all the cards being we shuffled theres an understanding of every tiny mistake my family to to to war and my plea to you know the replications might be you know very dire so so as as much as there is very strong talk and very high words theres also theres very much caution when it comes to any facts on the ground or any any operations being made so we need to keep that in mind what will role is iran playing exactly here its very difficult to read. On the one hand theres a sort of a mood of compromise with the nuclear deal on the other hand arms shipments and shipments to hezbollah. The rebels who three rebels in yemen what does iran wants peace in the middle east does iran want prosperity in the future for its people i think iran is like saudi arabi are both of them are part of problems and not solution in the lieben own as we see at the moment im not going to say there is a real danger of kind of valar but the possibility of such of war has increased and we should take it seriously and i think at the moment its not like that that the war is knocking on the door in the libyan or in between iran and saudi arabi are that there is and also part of the confrontation for example and it kind of it is possible against liban on saudi i bia can. Lead to a kind of destruction of their Financial Support for levi not which is very very dangerous for this country peter byrne you say that definitely will not be a real full scale war between saudi arabia and iran what makes you so sure. There wont be because i mean both countries i think arent prepared for a war and i think its also clear that. No one would gain you know no one would gain from it there wouldnt be a winnable war everybody still has the pictures in their mind of the first gulf war between iraq and iran and it was. Dreadful dreadful war so i think an open war between a land war between both countries wont happen the proxy wars will really go on but but i still see another aspect i mean talking about iran and saudi arabia thats also the the aspect of. How does the street how does the population feel about it when we remember in two thousand sixteen after saudi arabia executed a prominent shiite cleric named nima. Demonstrators in tehran stormed the Saudi Embassy ransacked it. You know burned part part of it so that. Tensions were high tensions came down again there was no talk of war but accidents like this well accidents or incidents like this can happen so we are going to see a lot of tension in the region but. Hopefully no concert no full scale war between iran and saudi arabia you gentlemen agree on that shani says almost inevitable a war in lebanon but one day soon and soon enough give it within a year what is going to happen next in the region i think we cannot be sure about that that there is no bar and. If you see every fact if you see trees. As a forest and not separated from each other then you come to the conclusion if you pulled all of them under the table i think the option. Real bar perhaps at the moment is not so actually and the real bad possibility is really very very been. Increased as it has. Thirty seconds whats going to happen the longer we talk the more scared me get i mean its all this but. I mean we dont know whats happening down the line but in the next few months i dont see that ok thank you very much all three of you for joining me here in puerto rico today al question has been middle east tensions a new war i hope we give you plenty of food for thought to join us next week until and by by interest. Mesmerising mountains. Conrad hank. Is fascinated by their beauty. For months he retires to his studio on a glacier to create edgings. Speired by his icy parents around. A romance and thirty minutes on d w. The saddam thing dies when i ask him to terrorise or dealing with anyone at all they killed many civilians with him in the irish coming including my father why the official i was a student because i wanted to build a life for myself. But suddenly life became elish kind of sob. Providing insights global news that matters v. W. Made for mines. Tells us stirring stories. It makes us laugh. And cry. And smile. Magical images and emotions out. Of the busy every weekend on d w. Your children like chocolate. You cant live without your smartphone. To buy your tomatoes in the supermarket. As we go about our daily lives she moonlights oh often the last thing on the lines. Invisible hand is. Slavery in the twenty first century. Starting december second on d. W. This is deja news coming to you live from berlin mattapan talks about a new German Government busy open the countrys capital trials on the matter remains optimistic a conservatives can strike a deal with possibly a coalition