Saudi king to undergo medical tests for lung infection: royal court

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia´s King Salman has a lung infection and was set to undergo medical tests on Sunday night, the Royal Court said in the latest update on the ageing monarch´s health.

King Salman “will undergo some medical tests this evening, ...based on the recommendations of the royal clinics, due to a lung infection,” said the statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The 88-year-old king has been on the throne since 2015, though his son, Mohammed bin Salman, 38, was named crown prince in 2017 and acts as day-to-day ruler.

Saudi Arabia, the world´s biggest crude oil exporter, has for years sought to quell speculation over King Salman´s health.

The monarch´s well-being is rarely discussed, but the Royal Court disclosed in May that he was undergoing a treatment programme involving antibiotics after he was admitted to hospital for tests. Soon after it announced he had recovered.

The previous month he was admitted for “routine examinations” and left later the same day.

Prior to that, he was hospitalised in May 2022, when he went in for a colonoscopy and stayed for just over a week for other tests and “some time to rest”, the official Saudi Press Agency reported at the time.