Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Blair says S. Arabia turning Islam into an ideology

Blair says S. Arabia turning Islam into an ideology

The former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said on the anniversary of 9/11 that Saudi Arabia with huge oil wealth is propagating a fundamental, old-fashioned, and quite a backward view of Islam.
Tony Blair, the former UK prime minister made the remarks on Saturday on the anniversary of 9/11 during the Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference in Ukraine which was hosted by the CNN presenter Fareed Zakaria.

Blair described the 9/11 terrorist attacks as an event that changed the world. He said that the attacks created big anxiety in the world because they did not know whether further attacks were on the way.

The ex-UK prime minister said that they closed the UK airspace and shut down their infrastructure for fear of similar attacks on the UK.

He added that he was in close consultation with the US president. He added that Kosovo was the only military operation in which he was involved before.

The first decision was to stand with the US and America should not face this alone, according to Blair, adding that it was a new phase of policy.

He said the UK and the US do not challenge each other’s good faith.

In response to Fareed Zakaria on Saudi Arabia, as a crucial ally to the West, he said that the Western leaders were not fully aware of the origins of the new threat.

Saudi Arabia with that huge oil wealth finances the ideology of "Islamism" which is different from Islam itself, the politician said, adding that the Saudi Kingdom supports a very conservative and very old-fashioned a quite backward view of religion.

Meanwhile, he refused to acknowledge that Saudi rulers support terrorism.

That does not mean Saudi Arabia teaches people to be terrorists but there is a whole lot of countries, whose young people are taught fundamental ideas that are at odds with the world and that ideology would get across the boundaries, cultures and nations, according to Blair.

He said that the people are taught how to be good Muslims, and how Islam has been betrayed by people in positions of power in Islamic countries.

The politician added that the people in Saudi-sponsored schools are taught that people who are not Muslim are potentially your enemy. He added that young people are taught to be anti-Semitics and Anti Western powers.

He added that the problem that the Saudi-backed teaching has created cannot be dealt with by purely security means.

He claimed that over the 20 years of occupation, the Afghans made progress. He said that the girls would go to school. He pointed to Kabul as a developed and modern city claiming that Kabul has changed to a completely different city from what it was in 2001.

He said that almost 70,000 Afghan soldiers died for their own country.

He added that Americans decided to leave Afghanistan because they realized that the enemy they were fighting there was not going to give up even after 20 years. He said that the Americans could not wait more and they were fighting an endless war.

He said that the US agreement with the Taliban demoralized the Afghanistan government and the people of Afghanistan who locally worked with the Americans in the provinces.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
×