According to Steve Clemons at The Washington Note, the recent resignation of the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki al-Faisal, resulted from (among other things) his disagreement with the former Ambassador, Bush family confidant and current Saudi National Security Adviser, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, regarding which policy to pursue vis-a-vis Iran. Prince Turki is an advocate of the realist position which believes negotiations with Iran’s regime is the best option, and that military action would be disastrous in the present climate of sectarian strife. Prince Bandar? He’s a Cheney man, through and through:

Sources also confirm to TWN that Ambassador Turki’s decision to resign not only had to do with his refusal to tolerate the unprofessionalism of Bandar and Massoud — but with the signals that Bandar and Massoud have sent to Cheney, David Addington and others on Cheney’s national security staff that Saudi Arabia would “acquiesce to, accept, and not interfere with” American military action against Iran.

While reports of how far Bandar has gone in supporting Cheney’s desire for military action vary, insiders report that Bandar has “essentially assured” the Vice President that Saudi Arabia could be moved to accept and possibly support American military action against Iran. Another source reports to TWN that Bandar himself strongly supports Cheney’s views of a military response to Iran.

This is the core of the deep divide between Prince Turki and Bandar — which is also a divide between Foreign Minister Saud and Bandar as well.

The tension is about Iran and how to contain Iran. While Bandar and Rihab Massoud allegedly have affirmed Cheney’s views and are perceived to be Bush administration sycophants, Turki was charting a more realist course for Saudi interests and advising the White House to develop more serious, constructive strategies toward the region that would produce stability and not lead to “a terrorist super-highway stretching from Iran through Iraq and rushing through Syria and Jordan to the edge of Israel” — as one source stated to TWN.

It seems internal politics in Saudi Arabia may be the key to whether or not Cheney’s desire to “take out” Iran’s nuclear facilities via US air strikes and other operation by the military (i.e., the use of special forces units) will come to fruition. Currently, President Bush is consumed with the question of what to do in Iraq, but the Vice President and his supporters still hold out hope for the military option as the “be all, end all” solution to Iran’s nuclear program. If Prince Bandar ends up as the next Saudi Foreign Minister, he would provide a strong ally for Cheney on this issue.

Steve Clemons opined recently that Prince Bandar may have overplayed his hand, and Prince Turki’s resignation may incline King Abdullah to resolve this dispute within the Saudi Royal Family by elevating Turki to the foreign ministry post. I hope he’s right. The last thing we need is Saudi Arabia enabling Bush to bomb the crap out of the Iranians. We are perilously close to a full blown religious war between Shi’ites and Sunnis in the region, as it is.