I'm John Batchner, conversation with colleague Jonathan Shanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracy.

And the mystery of Saudi Arabia, as Jonathan says, going rogue. What does this mean for the region?

Unknown. But it appears that MBS is no longer waiting patiently for the Islamic Republic of Iran to join the dustbin of history.

And the decisions he's making are puzzling at least. Here's Jonathan to explain. More of this

tonight. Look, I got to say, MBS, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman,

appears to be really, I mean, going rogue right now.

We're right now watching him talk about security packs with the likes of Turkey and Pakistan.

He appears to be opposed to strikes on Iran, even though Iran has been, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been a staunch

enemy of the Saudis. This is in the context of a wider shakeup in the region whereby the

Saudis and the Emirates are at loggerheads on a huge number of issues. And the Emirates have been

quite good as American partners,

as Israeli partners, as advocates for stability in the region. Right now we're looking at the

Saudis challenging that. And it's extremely hard to understand why the Saudis would be doing

this. It looks like a flat out power play. They're trying to co-opt Somalia. They're trying to co-opt

Egypt. They're trying to co-op the region and to drive it away from the influence of their

neighbors in the UAE. This is a rivalry, John, that I think is harming the region and could

ultimately undermine whatever comes next between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran.