WASHINGTON – The Saudi-funded spread of Wahhabism began as a result ofWestern countries asking Riyadh to help counter the Soviet Union during theCold War, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the Washington Post.

*Speaking to the paper, bin Salman said that Saudi Arabia’s Western alliesurged the country to invest in mosques and madrassas overseas during theCold War, in an effort to prevent encroachment in Muslim countries by theSoviet Union.*

He added that successive Saudi governments had lost track of that effort,saying “we have to get it all back.” Bin Salman also said that funding nowcomes mostly from Saudi-based “foundations,” rather than from thegovernment.

The crown prince’s 75-minuteinterview with the Washington Postlink>tookplace on March 22, the final day of his US tour. Another topic ofdiscussion included a previous claim by US media that bin Salman had saidthat he had White House senior adviser Jared Kushner “in his pocket.”

Bin Salman denied reports that when he and Kushner – who is also DonaldTrump’s son-in-law – met in Riyadh in October, he had sought or received agreen light from Kushner for the massive crackdown on alleged corruptionwhich led to widespread arrests in the kingdom shortly afterwards.According to bin Salman, the arrests were a domestic issue and had been inthe works for years.

He said it would be “really insane” for him to trade classified informationwith Kushner, or to try to use him to advance Saudi interests within theTrump administration. He stated that their relationship was within a normalgovernmental context, but did acknowledge that he and Kushner “worktogether as friends, more than partners.” He stated that he also had goodrelationships with Vice President Mike Pence and others within the WhiteHouse.

The crown prince also spoke about the war in Yemen, where a Saudi-ledcoalition continues to launch a bombing campaign against Houthi rebels inan attempt to reinstate ousted Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi as president. Theconflict has killed thousands, displaced many more, driven the country tothe brink of famine, and led to a major cholera outbreak.

Although the coalition has been accused of a large number of civiliandeaths and disregard for civilian lives – an accusation which Riyadh denies– the crown prince said his country has not passed up “any opportunity” toimprove the humanitarian situation in the country. “There are not goodoptions and bad options. The options are between bad and worse,” he said.

The interview with the crown prince was initially held off the record.However, the Saudi embassy later agreed to lead the Washington Post publishspecific portions of the meeting.