Back Mohammad bin Salman Afrikaans محمد بن سلمان آل سعود Arabic محمد بن سلمان ARZ Mohámed bin Salmán AST Məhəmməd bin Salman Azerbaijani محمد بن سلمان آل سعود AZB Мохамед бин Салман Bulgarian মুহাম্মদ বিন সালমান Bengali/Bangla Mohammed bin Salman Catalan Мухьаммад ибн Салман Аль СаӀуд CE
| Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud محمد بن سلمان آل سعود | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Mohammed in 2019 | |||||
| Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia | |||||
| Assumed office 21 June 2017 | |||||
| Monarch | Salman bin Abdulaziz | ||||
| Preceded by | Muhammad bin Nayef | ||||
| 6th Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia | |||||
| Assumed office 27 September 2022 | |||||
| Monarch | Salman bin Abdulaziz | ||||
| Preceded by | Salman bin Abdulaziz | ||||
| 8th First Deputy Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia | |||||
| In office 21 June 2017 – 27 September 2022 | |||||
| Monarch | Salman bin Abdulaziz | ||||
| Preceded by | Muhammad bin Nayef | ||||
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| In office 29 April 2015 – 21 June 2017 | |||||
| Monarch | Salman bin Abdulaziz | ||||
| Prime Minister | Salman bin Abdulaziz | ||||
| Deputy | Muhammad bin Nayef | ||||
| Preceded by | Muhammad bin Nayef | ||||
| Succeeded by | Muhammad bin Muqrin | ||||
| Minister of Defense | |||||
| In office 23 January 2015 – 27 September 2022 | |||||
| Monarch | Salman bin Abdulaziz | ||||
| Prime Minister | Salman bin Abdulaziz | ||||
| Preceded by | Salman bin Abdulaziz | ||||
| Succeeded by | Khalid bin Salman | ||||
| Born | 31 August 1985 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue |
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| House | Al Saud | ||||
| Father | Salman bin Abdulaziz | ||||
| Mother | Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain | ||||
| Alma mater | King Saud University | ||||
| Military career | |||||
| Allegiance |  Saudi Arabia | ||||
| Service | Saudi Arabian Armed Forces | ||||
| Battles / wars | Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war | ||||
| Signature | |||||
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Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (Arabic: محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, romanized: Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), also known as MBS or MbS, is the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,[1] formally serving as Crown Prince and Prime Minister. He is the heir apparent to the Saudi throne, the seventh son of King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and the grandson of the nation's founder, Ibn Saud.
Mohammed is the first child of King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his third wife, Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain. After obtaining a law degree from King Saud University, he became an advisor to his father in 2009. He was appointed deputy crown prince and defense minister after his father became king in 2015, then promoted to crown prince in 2017. Mohammed succeeded his father as prime minister in 2022.
Mohammed leads an authoritarian government. Those regarded as political dissidents are systematically repressed through methods including imprisonment and torture; citizens face arrest for social media posts that mildly criticise government policies.[2][3][4] Between 2017 and 2019, he led the purge of competing Saudi political and economic elites, alleging that they were involved in corruption and seizing up to US$800 billion in assets and cash and cementing control over Saudi politics. A 2021 report by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) found that Mohammed had ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Since his appointment as crown prince in 2017, Mohammed has introduced some social and economic reforms; these include curtailing the influence of the Wahhabi religious establishment by restricting the powers of the religious police and improving women's rights, removing the ban on female drivers in 2018, and weakening the male-guardianship system in 2019. However, he also continues to repress women's rights activists.[5][6] His Saudi Vision 2030 program aims to reduce Saudi economy's reliance on oil through investment in other sectors such as technology and tourism, which has contributed to greater diversification of the economy;[7] however, the country remains heavily reliant on oil.[8]
Under Mohammed, Saudi Arabia has pursued an "aggressive"[1] foreign policy aimed at increasing the country's regional and international influence and attracting greater foreign investment.[9] The Kingdom has coordinated energy policy with Russia, strengthened its relations with China, and expanded diplomatic and commercial relations with emerging economies and regional powers in Africa, South America, and Asia.[9] Mohammed was the architect of the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen and was involved in the escalation of the Qatar diplomatic crisis, as well as a 2018 diplomatic dispute with Canada.
Amid the Israel-Hamas war, according to reporting by The Atlantic, Mohammed told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in January 2024 that he was open to Saudi normalization with Israel, adding, "Do I care personally about the Palestinian issue? I don’t, but my people do."[10][11]
- ^ a b "Mohammed bin Salman". Encyclopædia Britannica. 11 October 2024.
- ^ "The High Cost of Change". Human Rights Watch. 4 November 2019.
- ^ "Saudi Crown Prince Immunity Highlights US Failure to Seek Justice | Human Rights Watch". 21 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia: 20-Year Sentence for Tweets | Human Rights Watch". 9 July 2024. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- ^ Alam, Radina Gigova, Hande Atay (2 May 2024). "Saudi women's rights activist sentenced to 11 years in jail, rights groups say". CNN.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Kalin, Stephen; Said, Summer (28 December 2020). "Saudi Women's Rights Activist Sentenced to Nearly Six Years in Prison". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660.
- ^ "IMF Staff Country Reports Volume 2023 Issue 323: Saudi Arabia: 2023 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Informational Annex (2023)". IMF eLibrary. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ Dept, International Monetary Fund Middle East and Central Asia (17 August 2022). "Saudi Arabia: Selected Issues". IMF Staff Country Reports. 2022 (275). doi:10.5089/9798400217548.002.A001 (inactive 1 November 2024).
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link) - ^ a b Understanding Saudi Arabia’s Recalibrated Foreign Policy | Crisis Group
- ^ "Saudi crown prince says he doesn't care about 'Palestinian issue'". Jewish News Syndicate. 29 September 2024.
- ^ Foer, Franklin (25 September 2024). "The War That Would Not End". The Atlantic. Retrieved 22 November 2024.