Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince, Mohammad Bin Salman, has been promoted from defence minister and has been the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter and a major US ally in the Middle east.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s new role is in line with the king’s previous delegation of duties to him, including representing the kingdom in foreign visits and chairing summits hosted by the kingdom, a Saudi official said
Mohammad Bin Salman was born on 31 August 1985, the eldest son of then-prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud’s third wife, Fahad Bint Falah Bin Sultan.
In January 2015, King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz died and Salman acceded the throne, appointing his son Mohammad Bin Salman as minister of defence.He has been replaced as defence minister by his younger brother Khalid Bin Salman who was deputy defence minister.
The reshuffle kept another son, Prince Abdul-Aziz Bin Salman, as Energy Minister, the royal decree, carried by state news agency SPA, said.
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud, Finance minister Mohammad Al-Jadaan and Investment Minister Khalid Al Falih remained unchanged.Saudi Arabia has for years sought to quell speculation over the health of the 86-year-old king, who has ruled the world’s top oil exporter since 2015.
Last year, President Biden declassified an intelligence report that found Prince Mohammed had approved the operation against Mr. Khashoggi, an assertion the Saudi authorities deny.
But the spike in energy prices triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has spurred several Western leaders to travel to Saudi Arabia to appeal for ramped-up oil production, notably Boris Johnson, then prime minister of Britain, and Mr. Biden himself, who swallowed an earlier vow to make the Saudi leadership a “pariah.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany became the latest major leader to visit the kingdom, going there this past weekend.
Influence of Mohammad Bin Salman in Saudi Arabia
Prince Mohammad became minister is 2015, a key step in swift consolidation of power.
In that role, he has overseen Saudi Arabia’s military activities in Yemen, where the kingdom leads a coalition backing the internationally recognised government in it’s fight against Iran-aligned Huthi rebels.
He has also become the public face of an agenda known as Vision 2030. Changes have included granting women the right to drive, opening cinemas, welcoming foreigner tourists, and organising multiple sporting events.
His reforms, however have come with a massive crackdown on dissent, with activists, royals and businessman jailed.
Several were accused of serious crimes, including “suspicious contact with foreign parties”, women rights’ activists were also rounded up shortly before the ban on women driving was lifted.
The killing of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018 has tarnished his reputation and strained kingdom’s relationships with United States and other Western allies.
