What is Saudi Arabia’s endgame in Yemen and Syria?

Mehdi Hasan speaks to Abdallah al-Mouallimi, the Saudi ambassador to the UN, about the kingdom’s role in the region.

Nearly a year into the Saudi-led coalition’s air strikes in Yemen, what does the Kingdom hope to gain?

In this week’s wide-ranging Headliner interview, Mehdi Hasan speaks to Abdallah al-Mouallimi, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United Nations, about the country’s involvement in Yemen and Syria, ISIL and the Kingdom’s human rights record.

Mouallimi says beheadings in the country are “not barbaric” because “there are no beheadings without a full process of law behind them”.

The ambassador also argues that just because the Kingdom supports an elected government in Syria, “doesn’t mean there have to be elections somewhere else”, including in Saudi Arabia.

“Elections are not a panacea for everything”, Mouallimi adds. “I would like to claim that if you went to Saudi Arabia, and if you conducted a survey in Saudi Arabia, in any way, official, formal, otherwise, you will find a high degree of support for the system of government in Saudi Arabia”.

Editor’s note: This interview was conducted before the latest announcement of the ceasefire agreement in Yemen.