Sultan bin Abdel Aziz, first in line to the Saudi thrown, has died following a battle with cancer. He was 85 years old. State sources say he died outside of the kingdom, and BBC News says he was most likely in a New York hospital at the time of his passing.

His death opens a question as to who succeeds the aging King Abdullah. Sultan had been the deputy prime minister and the minister of aviation and defense. The next logical choice, according to the Associated Press report, is the powerful interior security chief Prince Nayef.

Prince Nayef, while a strong opponent of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons, has also been known for antisemitic conspiracy theories. He has previously denied that 19 Muslims were responsible for the 9/11 attacks, instead positing that “Zionist” elements were behind the plot.

The prince is also a very conservative voice in Saudi Arabia, previously insisting that there is no need for elections or the involvement of women in the running of the country. He has never been afraid to use thuggery to advance his agenda, at one point threatening to withhold contracts from the French government unless it dropped its narcotics investigation into a family member.