Mohammed bin Salman
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, known as MbS, reportedly told the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken in January 2024: "Do I care personally about the Palestinian issue? I don't, but my people do." The Atlantic reported the remark during the Gaza war. Few rulers are so blunt about the gap between private view and public duty.
Born on the 31st of August 1985, he is the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, formally serving as Crown Prince and Prime Minister. He is the grandson of Ibn Saud, who founded the kingdom. Supporters point to a loosened society and an economy being rebuilt. Critics point to prisons, executions and a journalist's death that alarmed the world's capitals.
This documentary asks how a young adviser reached the centre of power so quickly. It asks what he set out to build, and what that cost the kingdom and its neighbours. It also asks why governments that condemn him keep returning to Riyadh.
On the 15th of December 2009, a 24-year-old entered politics as a special adviser to his father, then governor of Riyadh Province. He was Mohammed, the eldest of six children born to Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain, King Salman's third wife. Counting all of his father's children, he was the eighth child and the seventh son. He graduated second in his class with a law degree from King Saud University. His full siblings include Prince Turki and Prince Khalid, who is now defence minister.
After university he spent several years in the private sector and consulted for the Experts Commission, which served the Saudi Cabinet. Then he began moving between posts. He became secretary-general of the Riyadh Competitive Council, advised the chairman of the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives, and sat on the board of trustees of the Albir Society.
Deaths among older princes opened the path. When Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz died in October 2011, Prince Salman became second deputy prime minister and defence minister, and he made his son a private adviser. When Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz died in June 2012, Salman became crown prince and Mohammed moved into the number two position. On the 2nd of March 2013 he succeeded Saud bin Nayef as chief of the Crown Prince Court, with ministerial rank. On the 25th of April 2014 he became a state minister.
The 23rd of January 2015 brought the biggest jump. King Abdullah died, Salman took the throne, and Mohammed became minister of defence and secretary general of the royal court, while keeping his state ministry. On the 29th of January 2015 he was named chair of the new Council for Economic and Development Affairs. In April 2015 a royal decree gave him control of Saudi Aramco, and the king named him deputy crown prince beneath the king's nephew Muhammad bin Nayef.
Late in 2015, at a meeting between his father and Barack Obama, Mohammed broke protocol to deliver a monologue criticising US foreign policy. In December 2015, Germany's Federal Intelligence Service published a memo predicting a change in the line of succession. The German government rebuked it.
On the 21st of June 2017 the prediction came true. King Salman deposed Muhammad bin Nayef and made his own son crown prince. Donald Trump phoned that day to congratulate him, and the two pledged close cooperation on security and economic issues. Two months earlier Mohammed had told The Washington Post that without America's cultural influence, "we would have ended up like North Korea."
In May 2017 he launched a purge of rival business and political elites under an anti-corruption banner. He declared that "no one will survive in a corruption case," whether prince or minister. In November 2017 he ordered about 200 wealthy businessmen and princes held under house arrest in the Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh. On the 4th of November the press announced the arrest of the billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, a major shareholder in Citi, News Corp and Twitter, along with more than 40 other princes and ministers. Others arrested or fired included Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, head of the National Guard, Economy Minister Adel Fakeih, and Admiral Abdullah bin Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Sultan, commander of the Royal Saudi Navy.
What happened inside the hotel became known as "the night of beating." Most detainees were beaten, and some were tied to walls in stress positions by Saudi agents. Interrogators knew little beyond assets inside the kingdom and pressed for details of offshore holdings, while the victims did not know why they were held. Detainees were told to call bank managers in Geneva and elsewhere and ask for large sums. The interrogators were surprised to learn the wealth was not all cash. Swiss banks recognised some transfers as made under duress and stopped them. There was no due process and no plea bargain. US officials described "coercion, abuse, and torture," and seventeen detainees were hospitalised. After many days the rest were moved to Al-Ha'ir Prison, and some who were freed were banned from travelling abroad.
The purge undermined the old habit of consensus among Saudi elites. It finally sidelined the faction of King Abdullah and gave Mohammed control of all three branches of the security forces. Trump tweeted his approval, saying some of those treated harshly had been "milking" their country for years. French president Emmanuel Macron, visiting Riyadh days later, declined to comment on what he called a domestic matter.
On the 30th of January 2019 the Anti-Corruption Committee declared its work complete. As many as 500 people had been rounded up, and Saudi banks had frozen more than 2,000 domestic accounts. The Wall Street Journal reported that the government targeted cash and assets worth up to $800 billion. Saudi authorities said they could prove only $300 billion to $400 billion was linked to corruption.
One more title waited. On the 27th of September 2022, King Salman appointed his son prime minister, an office traditionally held by the king himself.
In 2016, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, with thousands of officers on the streets, lost its power to pursue, question, arrest or detain suspects. David Ottaway of the Wilson Center called the curbing of Wahhabi clergy the most consequential of all the domestic reforms, because those clerics still command millions of followers.
In October 2017, Mohammed said that the kingdom had not been "normal" for 30 years. He blamed rigid doctrines that took hold in reaction to the Iranian Revolution, and he promised a return to "a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world." The statement amounted to telling clerics that the bargain struck after the Grand Mosque seizure was open to renegotiation.
Public life changed quickly. In December 2017 Saudi Arabia held its first public concert by a female singer. In January 2018 a sports stadium in Jeddah became the first in the kingdom to admit women. In April 2018 the first public cinema opened after a ban of 35 years, with plans for more than 2,000 screens by 2030. A new entertainment authority began hosting comedy shows, professional wrestling and monster truck rallies. Ottaway noted that the steady stream of Western singers, bands and even American female wrestlers directly offended religious conservatives.
Women's rights moved too. The ban on female drivers ended in 2018, answering a demand activists had pressed for decades. A new law let women above 21 obtain passports and travel abroad without a male guardian's permission. In February 2018 women could legally open their own businesses without a man's consent. By March 2018, the Information Ministry said, mothers could keep immediate custody of their children after a divorce without filing a lawsuit. In February 2017 the kingdom had already named its first woman to head the Saudi Stock Exchange.
On the 26th of April 2020, the Supreme Judicial Council abolished flogging as a punishment. The next day the Human Rights Commission reported a royal decree abolishing the death penalty for crimes committed by minors.
In a televised interview on the 25th of April 2021, Mohammed criticised devotion to Wahhabi doctrine in language no Saudi monarch had used before. "There are no fixed schools of thought and there is no infallible person," he said. He added that fatwas should reflect the time, place and mindset in which they are issued. The historian Bernard Haykel calls him probably the only leader in the Arab world who knows anything about Islamic epistemology and jurisprudence. As of early 2021, Mohammed had ordered a codification of Saudi laws to end the power of individual Wahhabi judges to apply their own readings of Sharia. The writer Graeme Wood reports that many conservative clerics reversed their positions under what he calls good old-fashioned intimidation.
Not everyone read the changes as liberation. The scholar Gabriella Perez argues they point toward secularist repression and may harm freedom of religion. Another analyst, Schmidt-Feuerheerd, notes a clampdown on political and religious activity independent of the government.
In December 2022, the Education and Training Evaluation Commission banned female students from wearing the traditional abaya to examination centres. A later clarification said the rule applied only to all-female centres run by the commission.
In April 2016, Mohammed unveiled Vision 2030, a 15-year plan to steer Saudi Arabia toward a more diversified and privatised economy. The first measures included new taxes, cuts to subsidies and a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund. A package called the National Transformation Programme added strategic economic reforms. To raise capital, he proposed selling shares in Saudi Aramco, the state oil and gas company. In October 2017, The Economist called the plan for an Aramco listing "a mess." He also slashed the state budget, froze government contracts and cut the pay of civil employees. The kingdom remains OPEC's largest producer and holds the second-largest oil reserves in the world, and the economy is still heavily reliant on oil.
In October 2017 he announced Neom, a linear city powered by renewable energy. It was meant to cover 26,000 square kilometres of the Red Sea coast and extend into Jordan and Egypt. Critics widely called it unrealistic. Expatriate employees described abusive working conditions, and members of the local Howeitat tribe protested against their forced expulsion. In 2024, the project was reported to have been substantially scaled back. An internal audit found extensive problems, including "evidence of deliberate manipulation" by managers. By 2025 new contracts had dried up, and Neom went unmentioned in the kingdom's pre-budget statement for 2026.
Other projects were smaller but still vast. Plans for a 34,000 square kilometre stretch of Red Sea coast, including a lagoon of 50 islands, aimed at luxury tourism under laws on a par with international standards. In April 2017 he announced Qiddiya City, a 334-square-kilometre entertainment, sports and culture city southwest of Riyadh, with a safari and a Six Flags theme park. In November 2017 the kingdom announced it would begin issuing tourist visas in 2018. A residency scheme approved in 2019 let expatriates settle permanently, own property and invest.
In the last week of September 2018 he inaugurated the $6.7bn Haramain Express, a 450-kilometre line between Mecca and Medina. Trains can reach 300 kilometres per hour and carry around 60 million passengers a year. Commercial operations began on the 11th of October 2018.
Sport took an unprecedented share of spending. Deals brought the Asian Games in 2029 and a FIFA tournament in 2034. In 2023 Mohammed explained the logic: to develop tourism you need culture and sport, "because you need to create a calendar."
The environmental record is mixed. Saudi Arabia has lobbied to weaken global agreements on cutting carbon emissions. Mohammed's net zero commitments rest mainly on carbon capture and storage technologies that remain unproven.
Personal spending drew its own scrutiny. In 2015 he bought the yacht Serene from the Russian vodka tycoon Yuri Shefler for 500 million euros. That year he also bought the Château Louis XIV in France for over $300 million. In 2018 Forbes ranked him the eighth most powerful person in the world, with wealth of at least $25 billion, though another estimate that year put it at $3.0 billion.
In December 2017, several sources reported that he had bought Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi through an intermediary, Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Farhan. The November sale, at $450 million, set a record for a work of art. Christie's and the Saudi embassy denied the report, and the UAE government said it is the painting's actual owner. Haykel, who speaks regularly with Mohammed, told the BBC that the painting is stored in Geneva. He said it is meant to hang in a very large Riyadh museum yet to be built, as an anchor object to draw tourists.
Late in 2014, the Houthis took control of northern Yemen, and President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and his cabinet resigned. After suicide bombings in the capital Sana'a, Mohammed's first move as defence minister was to assemble a coalition of Gulf states. It struck the Houthis from the air and imposed a naval blockade. In March 2015 Saudi Arabia began leading the coalition.
Saudi princes who headed the security services agreed that the Houthi seizure of Sana'a demanded a response. Mohammed nevertheless launched the intervention without full coordination. National Guard minister Mutaib bin Abdullah, who was abroad, was left out of the loop. Mohammed saw a quick win that would put Hadi back in power. It became a long war of attrition.
On the 4th of January 2016 he gave his first on-the-record interview, to The Economist, which had called him the "architect of the war in Yemen." He rejected the title. He pointed to the security and foreign-affairs bodies that shared the decision and noted that the Houthis took Sana'a before he became minister. On the 10th of January 2016, The Independent reported that German intelligence portrayed him as a political gambler destabilising the Arab world through proxy wars in Yemen and Syria. German officials said that was not the government's position.
In December 2015 he had also announced an Islamic military alliance against terrorism, though some member countries said they had not been consulted. Its first meeting took place in Riyadh in November 2017 with defence ministers and officials from 41 countries.
The human cost in Yemen was severe. After a Houthi missile aimed at Riyadh in December 2017 was intercepted, airstrikes killed 136 Yemeni civilians and injured 87 more in eleven days. In August 2018 the United Nations reported that all parties to the conflict were responsible for rights violations that could amount to war crimes. More than 50,000 children in Yemen died from starvation in 2017. The number of child deaths from 2015 to May 2019 is said to be approximately 85,000. In October 2018, UN humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande warned that 12 to 13 million Yemenis were at risk of starvation if the war continued for three more months. On the 28th of March 2018, Saudi Arabia and the UAE donated US$930 million to the United Nations, nearly one-third of the $2.96 billion needed for its Yemen plan for that year. The war and blockade cost Saudi Arabia tens of billions of dollars, yet failed to dislodge the Houthis from the capital.
On the 5th of June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut relations with Qatar and effectively blockaded it. They cited alleged support for terrorism, the broadcaster Al Jazeera and Qatar's ties to Iran. Mohammed compared the dispute to the US embargo on Cuba, imposed 60 years earlier, and dismissed the emirate as "smaller than a Cairo street." The Intercept reported in August 2018, citing unnamed sources, that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had stopped a Saudi-Emirati plan to invade Qatar. On the 4th of January 2021, Kuwait and the United States brokered a resolution. Leaders signed the final communiqué on the 5th of January 2021, after a Gulf Cooperation Council summit at Al-'Ula.
In November 2017, Mohammed forced the Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri to resign while Hariri was visiting Saudi Arabia. He believed Hariri was in the pocket of the Iran-backed Hezbollah. Hariri was eventually released, returned to Lebanon and annulled his resignation.
On the 2nd of August 2018, Canada's foreign minister Chrystia Freeland posted on Twitter her concern over the arrest of the activist Samar Badawi, sister of the imprisoned blogger Raif Badawi. Saudi Arabia expelled Canada's ambassador and froze trade. The Toronto Star reported analysts agreed this was a warning to the world and to Saudi activists that his Saudi Arabia is not to be trifled with. Diplomatic ties were restored on the 24th of May 2023.
Syria followed a similar pattern of reversal. A lawsuit filed by the former intelligence official Saad al-Jabri revealed on the 16th of August 2020 that Mohammed secretly called for Russia to intervene in Syria in 2015, when Bashar al-Assad's regime was close to falling. Saudi Arabia had been backing anti-Assad rebels including Ahrar al-Sham. Western diplomats say the Emirati leader Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan strongly influenced him. In 2017 it was reported that Saudi Arabia supplied weapons to Syrian opposition groups. Conflict Armament Research said those weapons often ended up with Islamic State members. In May 2023, Assad attended the Arab League summit in Jeddah, where Mohammed received him.
In August 2016, Donald Trump Jr. met an envoy representing Mohammed and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed. The envoy offered help to the Trump campaign. The meeting included the Israeli social media expert Joel Zamel, the Lebanese-American businessman George Nader and the Blackwater founder Erik Prince.
After the election, support for Mohammed was reportedly one of the few issues on which the rival White House advisers Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon agreed. He was invited to the White House with the honours given to a head of state. He defended the travel ban on nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries, saying Saudi Arabia did not see it as targeting Islam. Kushner asked how the United States could support him in the succession. Trump reportedly said, "We've put our man on top." Trump initially backed the Qatar blockade over the objections of Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary James Mattis, though he later changed position. Mohammed later reportedly claimed that Kushner had given him intelligence on domestic rivals during the purge.
Joe Biden described Mohammed as a pariah in 2019. In July 2021, deputy defence minister Khalid bin Salman visited Washington, the first meeting of senior officials since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. In September 2021, national security adviser Jake Sullivan met Mohammed, who reportedly ended up shouting at him after he raised the killing. US-Saudi trade fell from 76 billion dollars in 2012 to about 29 billion in 2021.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Saudi Arabia refused US requests to raise oil production. The Wall Street Journal wrote in April 2022 that the relationship was at its lowest point in decades. CIA director William Burns travelled to Riyadh that month to ask for more oil. Then OPEC+ announced a cut of two million barrels a day. Washington accused Riyadh of siding with Russia, and White House spokesman John Kirby said the cut would "increase Russian revenues and blunt the effectiveness of sanctions." Saudi Arabia denied any political motive and declined a US request to delay the decision until after the 2022 American elections. Biden threatened "consequences." Relations warmed after Biden visited the kingdom, the Pentagon approved a $500m arms deal and a bipartisan group of senators travelled to Riyadh.
From the 13th to the 16th of May 2025, Trump made his first major international trip of his second term, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He and Mohammed signed a "strategic economic partnership" agreement. King Salman did not appear during the visit. Mohammed greeted Trump at King Khalid International Airport, whereas in 2017 it had been Salman.
In 2016, Mohammed signed an agreement with Russia to cooperate on global oil markets. After he was accused over Khashoggi's death, Vladimir Putin was one of the few world leaders to embrace him publicly. They signed a military cooperation agreement in 2021. In September 2022, five British and two American prisoners of war captured in Ukraine were released by Russia through Saudi mediation. Putin visited Saudi Arabia in December 2023, and Mohammed hosted Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Riyadh on the 10th of March 2025.
China became Saudi Arabia's largest economic partner in 2014, and trade grew from $51.5 billion to $87.5 billion in 2021 after Mohammed became crown prince. In February 2019 he defended China's policies in Xinjiang, where more than 1 million Uyghurs were put into internment camps. When Xi Jinping visited Riyadh from the 7th to the 10th of December 2022, the relationship rose to a comprehensive strategic partnership, the highest level in China's formal ranking. At the 2022 Airshow China in Zhuhai, the two countries concluded an arms deal worth $4 billion. On the 10th of March 2023, China brokered a deal in which Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to restore diplomatic ties cut in 2016.
President Masoud Pezeshkian's victory in 2024 brought warm messages from Mohammed, who called relations a "historic turning point." In late January 2026, after a US aircraft carrier arrived in the region, he told Pezeshkian that Saudi territory and airspace would not be used against Iran. Yet The Washington Post reported that he repeatedly urged Trump to attack, and that Trump struck Iran on the 28th of February 2026 after lobbying from Saudi and Israeli governments. Saudi Arabia officially denied it. On the 15th of March 2026, The New York Times reported that Mohammed had urged Trump to "keep hitting the Iranians hard."
In December 2017, Mohammed criticised the American decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital. In 2020 he met Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad head Yosi Cohen in Neom. Early in the Gaza war, surveys showed over 90 percent of Saudis believed Arab states should break off relations with Israel. On the 19th of September 2024, he told the Shura Council that Saudi Arabia would not normalise relations until Palestine is recognised as a state with East Jerusalem as its capital. On the 11th of November 2024, at the Riyadh Summit, he called Israel's actions in Gaza a "collective genocide."
At 4:05 p.m. Eastern time on the 22nd of September 2020, a United States lawsuit reached Mohammed through WhatsApp. Twenty minutes later, the message was marked as read.
The suit had been filed in federal court in Washington by Saad al-Jabri, a former Saudi intelligence official who had been the US anti-terrorism contact in the Middle East. He had been the closest adviser to Mohammed's chief rival, Muhammad bin Nayef, and had been living in Canada since 2018. The suit alleges that in October 2018 Mohammed sent a "Tiger Squad" to Canada to assassinate him. Canadian authorities identified the squad and sent it back. Mohammed has reportedly created this team of assassins to target critics at home and abroad. The court issued a summons to Mohammed and 11 other people.
Saudi Arabia had sought al-Jabri's extradition, but an Interpol notice against him was removed because he was a political opponent of Mohammed. In March 2020, Saudi authorities detained his children Omar and Sarah, and their whereabouts remain unknown. On the 9th of July 2020, four US senators urged Trump to secure their freedom, calling it a "moral obligation." In 2021, al-Jabri told CBS that in 2014 Mohammed had mentioned plans to kill King Abdullah to let his father take the throne. Mohammed rejected all allegations, and the Saudi embassy called al-Jabri a discredited former official.
Human rights groups say that arrests of activists rose under Mohammed. In September 2017, a wave of detentions included Abdulaziz al-Shubaily, a founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, the academic and novelist Mustafa al-Hassan, and the entrepreneur Essam al-Zamel. Ahead of the lifting of the driving ban in June 2018-17 women's rights activists were arrested, among them Loujain al-Hathloul. Eight of the 17 were later released. Hatoon al-Fassi, an associate professor of women's history at King Saud University, was arrested soon afterwards.
In August 2018, the activist Israa al-Ghomgham and her husband, both arrested in 2015, faced the threat of beheading. Human Rights Watch warned of a "dangerous precedent." On the 23rd of April 2019-37 people, mostly Shia activists connected to the Qatif conflict, were executed in one of the largest mass executions of that minority in the kingdom's history.
In August 2019, Loujain al-Hathloul's brother Walid said she had been offered release if she denied being tortured. She was to sign a document and appear on camera. Walid wrote that she immediately ripped up the document. She told her family she had been whipped, beaten, electrocuted in a chair and harassed by masked men who woke her at night to shout threats. Mohammed has justified the mass arrests as necessary for reform and for building a state grounded in Arab nationalism.
Princes were not safe either. On the 6th of March 2020, Muhammad bin Nayef was arrested with his half-brother Nawwaf bin Nayef and King Salman's brother Ahmed bin Abdulaziz. They were charged with treason, and the government claimed they were trying to overthrow Mohammed.
In March 2019, Gavin de Becker, a security specialist working for Jeff Bezos, accused Saudi Arabia of hacking the phone of the owner of The Washington Post. In January 2020, a forensic investigation by FTI Consulting concluded with "medium to high confidence" that the phone was hacked through a message sent in May 2018 from Mohammed's WhatsApp account. After that, the phone began sending out dramatically more data. The report cited circumstantial evidence. A November 2018 message from Mohammed included an image resembling the woman with whom Bezos was having an affair that was not yet public. A February 2019 text urged Bezos not to believe everything he was told. UN special rapporteurs Agnès Callamard and David Kaye said the alleged hack suggested an effort to influence, if not silence, reporting by the Post on Saudi Arabia. They said it bore on whether Mohammed was involved in the killing of one of the paper's own writers.
In October 2018, the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of Mohammed, went missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkish officials reportedly believed he was murdered there, and said they held video and audio recordings proving he was first tortured. A medical forensics expert was said to be among the 15-man Saudi team seen entering and leaving the building. Saudi Arabia denied the accusations. Thirteen days later, Mohammed invited Turkish authorities to search the consulate, saying the Saudis had "nothing to hide." The Washington Post reported that he had earlier sought to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia and detain him.
According to Middle East Eye, seven of the fifteen suspects belonged to Mohammed's personal bodyguard. After the killing, commentators nicknamed him "Mister Bone Saw," a play on his initials that refers to the alleged use of a bone saw on Khashoggi's remains. A recording gathered by Turkish intelligence reportedly captured a member of the team telling someone by phone to "tell your boss, the deed was done." American officials believe the boss meant the crown prince. The caller was identified as Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a security officer often seen travelling with him. After the murder, his close confidant Ahmad Asiri was sacked, as was the former adviser Saud al-Qahtani. Seven weeks after the death, Saudi Arabia said it would seek the death penalty for five suspects.
On the 16th of November 2018, it was reported that the CIA had concluded with "high confidence" that Mohammed ordered the killing. One piece of evidence was an intercepted call in which his brother Khalid assured Khashoggi he would be safe entering the consulate. The CIA reportedly believed Khalid acted at Mohammed's behest, and judged the motive to be Mohammed's private belief that Khashoggi was an Islamist with problematic Muslim Brotherhood links. On the 4th of December 2018, CIA director Gina Haspel briefed US senators. Lindsey Graham said you would have to be willfully blind to conclude otherwise. Bob Corker said that if the prince were in front of a jury, he "would be convicted of murder in about 30 minutes."
Prince Turki bin Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief, dismissed the finding, saying the CIA had been proved wrong before, citing the invasion of Iraq. John Sawers, a former head of Britain's MI6, judged it "very likely" that Mohammed ordered the killing. On the 5th of December 2018, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet asked for an international investigation. In June 2019, a UN report on the unlawful death of Khashoggi linked Mohammed to the assassination.
Mohammed has denied involvement and blamed rogue operators. Donald Trump described the Saudi response as "one of the worst in the history of cover-ups." In an interview aired by CBS 60 Minutes on the 29th of September 2019, Mohammed denied any personal involvement but said he had to take "full responsibility for what happened," since it happened on his watch.
On the 25th of February 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified report approved by Director Avril Haines. It stated: "We assess that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi." The next day, Agnès Callamard urged the United States to impose sanctions on the crown prince.
Instead, on the 18th of November 2022, his new role as prime minister gave him US immunity over the killing. The Biden administration stressed that this was not a finding of innocence.
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Common questions
Who is Mohammed bin Salman?
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, known as MbS, was born on the 31st of August 1985. He is the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, formally serving as Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
When did Mohammed bin Salman become crown prince of Saudi Arabia?
Mohammed bin Salman became crown prince on the 21st of June 2017, after King Salman deposed Muhammad bin Nayef. He became prime minister on the 27th of September 2022.
What is Saudi Vision 2030 and how is Mohammed bin Salman connected to it?
Mohammed bin Salman announced Vision 2030 in April 2016 as a 15-year plan to diversify and privatise the Saudi economy. It includes a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund and the Neom megaproject, though the economy remains heavily reliant on oil.
What happened in the Ritz-Carlton during the 2017 Saudi purge led by Mohammed bin Salman?
In November 2017, about 200 wealthy businessmen and princes were held under house arrest in the Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh. Detainees were beaten, and US officials described the treatment as coercion, abuse and torture.
What did the US intelligence report conclude about Mohammed bin Salman and Jamal Khashoggi?
The declassified report released on the 25th of February 2021 assessed that Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation to capture or kill Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. Mohammed denies involvement but says he takes full responsibility because it happened on his watch.
What social reforms has Mohammed bin Salman introduced in Saudi Arabia?
Reforms include curbing the religious police in 2016, reopening cinemas in April 2018 after a 35-year ban, and ending the ban on female drivers in 2018. Women above 21 can also obtain passports and travel without a guardian's permission.
What role did Mohammed bin Salman play in the war in Yemen?
As defence minister, Mohammed bin Salman helped launch the Saudi-led intervention against the Houthis in March 2015. The war became a long war of attrition and deepened Yemen's humanitarian crisis.
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- 60NewsThe Saudi purge will spook global investors and unsettle oil markets9 November 2017
- 61NewsSaudi Arabia Pursues Cash Settlements as Crackdown ExpandsSummer Said et al. — 17 November 2017
- 62Saudi Crackdown Escalates With Arrests of Top Military OfficialsPavel Golovkin — 17 November 2017
- 63Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince to become Kingdom's Prime Minister: Royal decree27 September 2022
- 64NewsBeating Up on Canada Again: the Canada Letter10 August 2018
- 65NewsSaudi Arabia's Dark Nationalism2 June 2018
- 66NewsSaudi Arabia's Populist King in Waiting22 September 2017
- 67NewsSaudi Arabia's corruption crackdown risks scaring off investors30 January 2018
- 68NewsHeir's modernising vision risks conservative discontent22 June 2017
- 69BookThe Dark Side of GlobalizationTheodor Winkler — LIT Verlag Münster — 2018
- 70NewsHow the man behind Khashoggi murder ran the killing via Skype22 October 2018
- 71NewsSpotlight: Inside the stricken court of crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman27 December 2018
- 72NewsMeet the Two Princes Reshaping the Middle East13 June 2017
- 73MagazineA Saudi Prince's Quest to Remake the Middle East9 April 2018
- 74NewsIs "Moderate Islam" just another Way of saying Arab Nationalism?Burhanettin Duran — 31 October 2017
- 77The High Cost of Change4 November 2019
- 78NewsPutin and the prince: fears in west as Russia and Saudi Arabia deepen tiesMartin Chulov — 5 October 2022
- 79NewsSaudi king stamps his authority with staff shake-up and handoutsSimeon Kerr — 30 January 2015
- 80NewsProject to Get Saudi Arabia's Economy Off OilPeter Waldman — 21 April 2016
- 81Saudi Crown Prince Lambasts His Kingdom's Wahhabi EstablishmentDavid Ottaway — 6 May 2021
- 82NewsSaudi Arabia rebrands as Ramadan approachesJennifer Holleis — 10 March 2023
- 83MagazineABSOLUTE POWERGraeme Wood — 3 March 2022
- 84The Saudi Mirage of Religious FreedomGabriella Perez — 15 September 2022
- 85Haia can't chase, arrest suspects14 April 2016
- 86BookIslam in Saudi ArabiaCommins, David Dean — I.B. Tauris — 2015
- 87NewsRise and fall of the Saudi religious policeAseel Bashraheel — 22 September 2019
- 88JournalWho or What Is the Wali al Amr: the Unposed QuestionNathan J. Brown — 5 March 2019
- 89Saudi Arabia bans abaya in exam halls21 December 2022
- 90Saudi Arabia bans abayas in examination halls21 December 2022
- 91Saudi Arabia bans abaya in exam hallsSakina Fatima — 19 December 2022
- 92EXPLAINED: 'Saudi Arabia bans Hijab in Exam Halls'—How far it's true?26 December 2022
- 93NewsFull text of Saudi Arabia's Vision 203013 May 2016
- 94NewsSaudis aim to diversify economy with new $500bn cityAhmed Al Omran et al. — 24 October 2017
- 97Saudi Arabia: UN experts alarmed by imminent executions linked to NEOM projectOffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights — 3 May 2023
- 98What Went Wrong at Saudi Arabia's Futuristic Metropolis in the DesertRory Jones et al. — 2025
- 99Saudi Arabia says all NEOM megaprojects will go ahead as planned despite reports of scaling backNatasha Turak — 29 April 2024
- 100NewsSaudi Arabia Says Less Neom, More AI in New Pitch to Wall Street23 October 2025
- 101NewsSaudi Arabia plans a huge Red Sea Beach tourism projectAlaa Shahine et al. — 1 August 2017
- 102NewsSaudi crown prince launches mega Red Sea tourism project1 August 2017
- 103NewsSaudi aims to issue tourist visas next year, official says23 November 2017
- 104NewsSaudi Arabia opens high-speed railway linking holy cities25 September 2018
- 105NewsTop White House aide discussed oil prices with Saudi Arabia1 October 2021
- 106NewsThe White House accuses Saudi Arabia of aiding Russia and coercing OPEC oil producersJackie Northam — 13 October 2022
- 107NewsEnergy crunch: How high will oil prices climb?27 September 2021
- 108NewsOil analysts predict a prolonged rally as OPEC resists calls to ramp up supply5 October 2021
- 109NewsOPEC-Plus in Driver's Seat As Global Energy Crisis Intensifies6 October 2021
- 113Interview of Prince Mohammed bin Salman – His vision for the future Saudi ArabiaMohammed bin Salman
- 114Saudi cabinet approves new expatriate residency scheme14 May 2019
- 116NewsRights and benefits of the Saudi 'Green Card'20 May 2019
- 117NewsSaudi Arabia approves ambitious plan to move economy beyond oilIan Black — 25 April 2016
- 119NewsSaudi Aramco's IPO is a mess19 October 2017
- 120NewsRise of Prince Mohammed bin Salman rattles Saudi Arabia17 October 2016
- 121NewsPrince Mohammed bin Salman announces Saudi plans for largest entertainment cityAl Arabiya — 8 April 2017
- 122NewsWorld-class entertainment park coming up in Al-Qiddiya26 October 2017
- 123I will return Saudi Arabia to moderate Islam, says crown princeMartin Chulov — 24 October 2017
- 124Kingdom a country of moderate Islamsaudigazette.com.sa — 24 October 2017
- 125Saudi Sweep Is a Double-Edged SwordLiam Denning — 5 November 2017
- 126Saudi Arabia's Saturday Night MassacreGeopolitical Futures — 8 November 2017
- 128NewsSaudi Arabia hosts first-ever concert by female performerLydia Smith — 9 December 2017
- 129NewsSaudi Arabia brings back movie theaters — and 'staggering' demand is expectedHolly Ellyat — CNBC — 18 April 2018
- 130NewsSaudi Arabia to reopen public cinemas for the first time in 35 yearsDavid Reid — CNBC — 11 December 2017
- 132NewsSaudi Arabia to end flogging as a form of punishment25 April 2020
- 133NewsSaudi Arabia ends death penalty for crimes committed by minors27 April 2020
- 134NewsRights groups condemn Saudi arrests as crackdown on dissent15 September 2017
- 135NewsREVEALED: The Saudi death squad MBS uses to silence dissent22 October 2018
- 136NewsIs Saudi Arabia safe in Mohammed bin Salman's hands?22 October 2018
- 137Saudi Arabia: Arrest of two prominent activists a deadly blow for human rightsAmnesty International — 18 September 2017
- 138NewsSaudi security forces clamp down on dissentAhmed Al Omran et al. — 19 September 2017
- 139NewsSaudi Prosecutor Says 17 Detained in Case Against ActivistsAya Batrawy et al. — 3 June 2018
- 140NewsSaudi Arabia releases eight people held in activist crackdown2 June 2018
- 141NewsProminent Saudi women's rights activist detained as driving ban lifted: sourcesSarah Dadouch — 27 June 2018
- 142NewsSaudi Arabia seeks death penalty against female human rights activistEmma Graham-Harrison — 22 August 2018
- 143NewsSaudi Arabia 'seeks death penalty for woman activist'22 August 2018
- 144Saudi gentrifies Shiite old quarter after crushing revoltAl-Monitor — 4 June 2019
- 146NewsSaudi Arabia will finally allow women to drive27 September 2017
- 147NewsAt last Saudi women will be allowed to take the wheel30 September 2017
- 148Saudi Arabia Gives Women Travel Rights in Major Policy Shakeup1 August 2019
- 149NewsSaudi Arabian women finally allowed to hold passports and travel independentlyJessie Yeung et al.
- 150Saudi women to start own business without male permissionAl Arabiya — 18 February 2018
- 154NewsTop Saudi Royal Family Members DetainedSummer Said et al.
- 155NewsFormer Saudi official calls Mohammed bin Salman a "psychopath," says Saudi crown prince fears what he knowsScott Pelley — 24 October 2021
- 156NewsSaudi crown prince suggested killing King Abdullah, ex-official says25 October 2021
- 157NewsThe war in Yemen is disastrous. America is only making things worse11 June 2018
- 158MagazineSaudi Crown Prince Aids Yemen as He Hits It With Airstrikes6 April 2018
- 159NewsRisk-taking Saudi prince gambling with stability8 February 2017
- 161NewsSaudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman has Western leaders very worried13 January 2016
- 162NewsMohammed bin Salman is on a make or break missionNic Robertson — 21 June 2018
- 163NewsYemen crisis: President resigns as rebels tighten holdBBC — 23 January 2015
- 165NewsUS allies have killed thousands of Yemenis – including 22 at a weddingSudarsan Raghavan — 29 July 2018
- 166NewsSaudi Arabia accused of Yemen war crimes as crown prince completes UK visit10 March 2018
- 167UN report into Saudi-led strikes in Yemen raises questions over UK roleEwen MacAskill — 27 January 2016
- 169NewsSaudi Arabia intercepts Houthi missile fired toward Riyadh; no reported casualtiesKatie Paul et al. — 19 December 2017
- 170Over 130 civilians killed in 11 days in airstrikes in Yemen, reports UN rights officeUnited Nations — 19 December 2017
- 171NewsAll sides in Yemen conflict could be guilty of war crimes, says UNJudith Vonberg et al. — 28 August 2018
- 172NewsThe Photos the U.S. and Saudi Arabia Don't Want You to SeeNicholas Kristof — 31 August 2017
- 174Saudis must lift Yemen blockade or 'untold' thousands will die, UN agencies warnPatrick Wintour — 16 November 2017
- 176MagazineIs Intentional Starvation the Future of War?11 July 2018
- 177NewsIn blocking arms to Yemen, Saudi Arabia squeezes a starving population11 October 2017
- 178UN receives nearly $1 billion from Saudi Arabia and UAE for humanitarian response to Yemen crisisUnited Nations — 28 March 2018
- 179Saudi Arabia says it intercepts Houthi missile fired toward Riyadh, no reported damageCNBC — 19 December 2017
- 180Britain's red carpet for the Saudi ruler is shamelessEmily Thornberry — 7 March 2018
- 184NewsTurkey Officials Confirm Pact With Saudi Arabia To Help Rebels Fighting Syria's AssadDesmond Butler — 7 May 2015
- 186NewsArms supplied by U.S., Saudi ended up with Islamic State, researchers say14 December 2017
- 188NewsAnalysis: How important is Syria's return to the Arab League?19 May 2023
- 189NewsSyria's Assad wins warm welcome at Arab summit after years of isolation19 May 2023
- 190NewsWho's Speaking Out Against Trump's Jerusalem Move12 December 2017
- 191NewsSaudi crown prince says Israelis have right to their own land3 April 2018
- 193NewsSaudi Crown Prince: Iran's Supreme Leader 'Makes Hitler Look GoodJeffrey Goldberg — 2 April 2018
- 194NewsUN condemns Israeli PM's West Bank annexation plans11 September 2019
- 195Newsנתניהו המריא לסעודיה ונפגש בחשאי עם יורש העצר בן סלמאןאיתמר אייכנר et al. — 23 November 2020
- 196NewsSaudi Arabia Seeks U.S. Security Pledges, Nuclear Help for Peace With IsraelDion Nissenbaum et al. — 9 March 2023
- 198NewsSaudi Crown Prince calls on all countries to stop arms exports to Israel21 November 2023
- 199NewsSaudi crown prince says he doesn't care about 'Palestinian issue'29 September 2024
- 200The War That Would Not EndFranklin Foer — 25 September 2024
- 201Israel deal concerns lead Saudi Arabia's MBS to 'fear for his life'15 August 2024
- 202Saudi crown prince said he personally 'doesn't care' about Palestinian issue27 September 2024
- 203Saudi crown prince says no Israel ties without Palestinian state19 September 2024
- 205At Riyadh summit, Saudi crown prince backs Iran, accuses Israel of genocide11 November 2024
- 206Saudi crown prince says Israel committing 'genocide' in GazaFrank Gardner et al. — 11 November 2024
- 207Saudi crown prince accuses Israel of committing 'collective genocide' in GazaMostafa Salem — 12 November 2024
- 209Saudi-Russia Collusion Is Driving Up Gas Prices — and Worsening Ukraine CrisisKen Klippenstein — 23 February 2022
- 210NewsGulf states' neutrality on Ukraine reflect deeper Russian tiesSimeon Kerr et al. — 28 February 2022
- 211NewsUN Security Council extends Yemen arms embargo to all Houthis28 February 2022
- 212NewsU.N. arms embargo imposed on Yemen's Houthis amid vote questionsMichelle Nichols — 28 February 2022
- 214NewsPutin and the prince: fears in west as Russia and Saudi Arabia deepen tiesMartin Chulov — 5 October 2022
- 216NewsAiden Aslin among 10 international 'prisoners of war' released by Russian authoritiesDan Sabbagh — 22 September 2022
- 217The Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation1 March 2023
- 218NewsRussia's Putin meets leaders of Saudi Arabia, UAE on whistle-stop Gulf tour6 December 2023
- 221NewsSaudi armed forces chief visits Iranian counterpart for rare meeting10 November 2024
- 222NewsIran's President claims he's 'too busy' to attend summit in Saudi – analysis11 November 2024
- 223NewsIran's President Pezeshkian warns of regional instability amid US threats27 January 2026
- 224NewsHow the US pulled off the assassination of the centuryBenedict Smith et al. — 1 March 2026
- 225NewsPush from Saudis, Israel helped move Trump to attack IranMichael Birnbaum et al. — 1 March 2026
- 226NewsSaudi Arabia denies lobbying Trump to bomb IranAhmed Oluwasanjo — 2 March 2026
- 227NewsEntering War's Third Week, Trump Faces Stark ChoicesDavid E Sanger et al. — 15 March 2026
- 228NewsIran dismisses Saudi talk of 'triangle of evil' as 'childish'8 March 2018
- 229NewsSaudi prince says Turkey part of 'triangle of evil': Egyptian media7 March 2018
- 230NewsSaudi crown prince visits Turkey as relations thaw after Khashoggi murder22 June 2022
- 231NewsSaudi Arabia agrees deal to buy Turkish dronesSamer Al-Atrush et al. — 18 July 2023
- 232NewsTrump Jr. and Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win ElectionMark Mazzetti et al. — 19 May 2018
- 233NewsTrump Jr. met Gulf princes' emissary in 2016 who offered campaign help19 May 2018
- 234NewsSaudi Arabia Has High Hopes for Trump20 May 2017
- 235NewsThe Wooing of Jared Kushner: How the Saudis Got a Friend in the White House8 December 2018
- 236News'We put our man on top', Trump said on MBS, book claims5 January 2018
- 237NewsDonald Trump tweets support for blockade imposed on Qatar6 June 2017
- 239NewsQatar Charm Offensive Appears to Have Paid Off, U.S. Officials Say9 April 2018
- 240NewsSaudi Crown Prince Boasted That Jared Kushner Was "In His Pocket"21 March 2018
- 241NewsTrump praises Saudi purge, voices confidence in King, Crown Prince7 November 2017
- 242NewsTrump says US stands with Saudi Arabia despite journalist Khashoggi's killing20 November 2018
- 243NewsHow U.S.-Saudi Relations Reached the Breaking PointStephen Kalin et al. — 19 April 2022
- 244NewsKhashoggi murder: US softens towards Saudi leaderFrank Gardner — 14 July 2021
- 245NewsSaudi, UAE leaders declined calls with Biden amid Ukraine conflict: reportLexi Lonas — 8 March 2022
- 246NewsMohammed bin Salman Has Leverage on Biden—and Is Using It24 March 2022
- 249NewsSaudi oil power play bruises U.S. ties but won't break them13 October 2022
- 253NewsU.S. Prepares to Lift Ban on Sales of Offensive Weapons to Saudi ArabiaKate Kelly et al. — 22 December 2023
- 255Saudi Arabia's King Salman has been absent so far from Trump state visit.Ismaeel Naar — 13 May 2025
- 256NewsSaudi Arabia planned to invade Qatar last summer. Rex Tillerson's efforts to stop it may have cost him his job.Alex Emmons — 1 August 2018
- 257NewsGulf states agree to end three year Qatar blockadeIndependent — 5 January 2021
- 258NewsSaudi Arabia expels Canadian ambassador, freezes trade in human rights disputeJon Gambrell — 5 August 2018
- 259News'We don't have a single friend': Canada's Saudi spat reveals country is alone11 August 2018
- 260NewsU.S. refuses to back Canada in Saudi Arabia dispute7 August 2018
- 261On Saudi Arabia, Canada's stance is principled — but conflicted10 August 2018
- 262NewsCanada, Saudi Arabia Restore Ties Broken Before Khashoggi CrisisStephen Wicary — 24 May 2023
- 263NewsSaudis Roll Out Red Carpet for Xi Jinping as Gulf Looks Past USBen Bartenstein et al. — 6 December 2022
- 264NewsSaudi crown prince defends China's right to put Uighur Muslims in concentration campsJosie Ensor — 22 February 2019
- 267NewsSaudi crown prince defends China's right to fight 'terrorism'23 February 2019
- 268NewsSaudis Roll Out Red Carpet for Xi Jinping as Gulf Looks Past USBen Bartenstein et al. — 6 December 2022
- 269NewsHow China became Saudi Arabia's top trading partner, revived ancient Silk RoadLama Al Hamawi — 8 December 2022
- 270Saudi-Chinese Cooperation in the Production of Ballistic MissilesMohammad Salami — 3 April 2022
- 272NewsChina's Xi vows to buy more Mideast oil as US focus wanesJohn Gambrell — 10 December 2022
- 273NewsChina's Xi Jinping Deepens Saudi Ties in Pivotal TripStephen Kalin — 8 December 2022
- 274NewsFactbox: Saudi-China energy, trade and investment ties9 December 2022
- 275NewsChina's Xi calls for oil trade in yuan at Gulf summit in RiyadhMaha El Dahan et al. — 10 December 2022
- 276Saudi Arabia, China, and defense deals during Zhuhai Air Show 202224 November 2022
- 277NewsSaudi gets huge arms deal from China worth $4 billion29 November 2022
- 278NewsSaudi Arabia, Iran Restore Relations in Deal Brokered by ChinaStephen Kalin et al. — 10 March 2023
- 279News'Sarah and Omar have disappeared': children of ex-Saudi official missing since MarchStephanie Kirchgaessner — 3 June 2020
- 280NewsSenators Press Trump to Help Free Children of Saudi Ex-Official9 July 2020
- 281NewsSaudi Arabia Wants Its Fugitive Spymaster Back17 July 2020
- 282NewsThe Saudi crown prince, Interpol and an alleged assassination plotDavid Ignatius
- 286Exhibit A filled with US Court29 October 2020
- 287NewsSaudis hacked Amazon CEO's phone, says Bezos security chiefShannon Bond — 31 March 2019
- 288NewsHere Is the Technical Report Suggesting Saudi Arabia's Prince Hacked Jeff Bezos' PhoneKim Zetter et al. — 23 January 2020
- 289NewsUN calls for investigation of Saudis allegedly hacking Jeff BezosPatrick O'Neill — 22 January 2020
- 290NewsJeff Bezos phone hacking: UN calls for investigation after Saudi Crown Prince implicatedVerity Bowman — 22 January 2020
- 291How real is Saudi Arabia's interest in renewable energy?12 October 2019
- 292JournalThe Fossil-Fueled Roots of Climate Inaction in Authoritarian RegimesWilliam Kakenmaster — 2024
- 293NewsTurkey 'has recording proving Saudi murder'12 October 2018
- 294NewsJamal Khashoggi: Turkey says journalist was murdered in Saudi consulate7 October 2018
- 295NewsCrown prince sought to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia and detain him, U.S. intercepts showShane Harris — 10 October 2018
- 296NewsEXCLUSIVE: Seven of Mohammed's bodyguards among Khashoggi suspects17 October 2018
- 298Who is Ahmed al-Asiri, the sacked Saudi intelligence chief?19 October 2018
- 299NewsSaudis' Image Makers: A Troll Army and a Twitter InsiderKatie Benner et al. — 20 October 2018
- 300NewsSaudi 'Mr. Hashtag' becomes fall guy in Khashoggi case, but is he really down?Leela Jacinto — France 24 — 25 October 2018
- 301News'Tell Your Boss': Recording Is Seen to Link Saudi Crown Prince More Strongly to Khashoggi KillingJulian E. Barnes et al. — 12 November 2018
- 302Saudis shield crown prince as death penalty sought over Khashoggi murder15 November 2018
- 304NewsCIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi's assassinationShane Harris et al. — 16 November 2018
- 305NewsKhashoggi murder: Saudi crown prince crazy, says US senator4 December 2018
- 308NewsSaudi Prince Slams CIA Assessment Report on Khashoggi Murder24 November 2018
- 309NewsU.S. senators say Saudi crown prince has gone 'full gangster'6 March 2019
- 310Saudi prince has gone 'full gangster,' says Rubio, as lawmakers decry kingdom's abusesNicole Gaouette et al. — 7 March 2019
- 311News'Credible evidence' ties Saudi prince to Khashoggi murder, UN expert says19 June 2019
- 314NewsSaudi Crown Prince Says Khashoggi Was Killed 'Under My Watch'Jared Malsin — 26 September 2019
- 316Mohammed bin Salman accepts responsibility for Jamal Khashoggi murder26 September 2019
- 319NewsMohammed bin Salman: Saudi leader given US immunity over Khashoggi killingBBC News — 18 November 2022
- 320NewsA Look Inside Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan LairJessica Silver-Greenberg et al. — 5 August 2025
- 321Bin Salman-Epstein photograph sparks backlash7 August 2025
- 324Profile: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman21 June 2017
- 325NewsReports of Saudi Crown Prince's Domestic Violence EmergeAli Al Ahmed — 16 March 2018
- 326Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman: Reformer and hard-linerMarko Langer — 5 November 2017
- 327NewsMohammed bin Salman – the reformer behind Saudi Arabia's shakeupSteve Kurtz — 15 March 2018
- 328NewsMBS: despot in the desertNicolas Pelham — 28 July 2022
- 331NewsWorld's Most Expensive Home? Another Bauble for a Saudi PrinceNicholas Kulish et al. — 16 December 2017
- 332NewsPro-austerity Saudi prince buys world's most expensive homeRory Mulholland — 16 December 2017
- 334NewsPrince Mohammed books out hotel to dine with Murdoch4 April 2018
- 335NewsSaudi Arabia's Crown Prince Identified as Buyer of Record-Breaking da VinciShane Harris et al. — 7 December 2017
- 336The Mystery Buyer of a $450 Million Leonardo da Vinci Painting Was a Saudi PrinceEli Meixler — 7 December 2017
- 337NewsMystery Buyer of $450 Million 'Salvator Mundi' Was a Saudi PrinceDavid D. Kirkpatrick — 6 December 2017
- 338Mystery buyer of famed da Vinci is Saudi prince: Report6 December 2017
- 339Embassy Statement on Art Work PurchaseEmbassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- 340Louvre Abu Dhabi: UAE has acquired Da Vinci's Salvator Mundi9 December 2017
- 343Saudi prince MBS bought this $400 million megayacht from a Russian Oligarch and immediately kicked him out.Neha Tandon Sharma — Luxury launches — 28 April 2022
- 344Missing Salvator Mundi 'turns up on MBS yacht'Katya Kazakina — 11 June 2019
- 346Eleven things we learned from Saudi crown prince interviewRaydhan Uddin — 21 September 2023
- 347King Hamad of #Bahrain decorates the #Saudi #CrownPrince #MuhammadBinSalman with the Order of Sheikh Isa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa of the Exceptional ClassSaudi Gazette — 25 November 2018
- 348Tunisie: Mohamed Ben Salmane honoré au Palais de Carthage28 November 2018
- 351NewsMohamed bin Zayed, Mohamed bin Salman review bilateral ties, regional issuesHassan Bashir — 7 December 2021
- 352Jordan confers highest civilian award on Crown Prince22 June 2022
- 353NewsZelensky decorates Rama with a state awardKOHA — 30 December 2023
- 355NewsSaudi police arrest three more women's rights activistsBethan McKernan — 23 May 2018
- 356NewsSaudis arrest another women's right activistAl Jazeera — 27 June 2018
- 357Dr Hatoon Ajwad al-Fassi هتون أجواد الفاسيHatoon Ajwad al-Fassi — King Saud University — 2011
- 358Who Is Israa al-Ghomgham? Female Saudi Activist May Be Beheaded After Death SentenceDavid Brennan — 21 August 2018
- 359Saudi Prosecution Seeks Death Penalty for Female ActivistHuman Rights Watch — 21 August 2018
- 360NewsSaudi women can now travel without consent – but this progress is fragileMadawi al-Rasheed — 2 August 2019
- 361NewsEvidence suggests crown prince ordered Khashoggi killing, says ex-MI6 chiefJohn Sawers — 19 October 2018
- 362NewsJamal Khashoggi Secret Interview: The Saudi Journalist's Views of Islam, America and the 'Reformist' Prince Implicated in His MurderJebreal Rula — 19 October 2018
- 363NewsReality Breaks Up a Saudi Prince Charming's Media NarrativeJim Rutenberg — 14 October 2018
- 364NewsWhat's the life of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to US President Donald Trump? NothingYonden Lhatoo — 20 October 2018
- 365NewsYemen on brink of 'world's worst famine in 100 years' if war continuesHannah Summers — 15 October 2018