Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince called the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “the new Hitler of the Middle East” in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday, sharply escalating the war of words between the two rivals.

Saudi Arabia and Iran back opposing sides in wars and political crises throughout the region.

Prince Mohammad Bin Salman suggested Iran’s expansion needed to be confronted.

“We learnt from Europe that appeasement doesn’t work. We don’t want the new Hitler in Iran to repeat what happened in Europe in the Middle East,” the paper quoted him as saying.

In Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has intervened to help restore the legitimate and internationally-recognised government to power after an Al Houthi coup in 2014, Salman said the war was going in its favour and that its allies controlled 85 per cent of Yemen’s territory.

The Iran-backed militants however, still retain the main population centres.

The group launched a ballistic missile toward Riyadh’s main airport on November 4, which was intercepted.

Saudi Arabia decried the launch as an act of war by Tehran.

Prince Mohammad said in May that the kingdom would make sure any future struggle between the two countries “is waged in Iran”.