Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Force in Play

Weighing Saudi response as strikes resume

What began as a single drone strike on August 9 has grown into the most serious Saudi-Houthi fighting since the 2022 truce. On September 8, Houthi missiles and drones hit four Saudi cities, wounded 73 people, and set fires at oil sites. The 400,000-barrel-per-day Jazan refinery has not fully operated since late July.

Updated 6 hours ago

Force in Play

Requested U.S. military help against the Houthis; Washington declined direct strikes

Ship crossings through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait fell to 15 on Friday, half the previous day's total. Houthi rebels seized Perim Island that day, completing their takeover of the strait that carries 10 to 12 percent of global trade.

Updated 15 hours ago

Rule Changes

Signed the pact in Mecca on August 7, 2026

In Mecca, the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed a pact stating that an armed attack on any one of them is an attack on all three. It binds oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Turkey's large army, and Pakistan's nuclear arsenal into one defense promise.

Updated Aug 7

Built World

Chief patron of NEOM and chair of the Public Investment Fund

Saudi Arabia announced NEOM in 2017 as a 26,000-square-kilometer city of the future on the Red Sea, with THE LINE — a 170-kilometer ribbon of 500-meter mirrored walls — as its flagship. Nine years and roughly $500 billion later, the 2026 reality is split: THE LINE is paused at a 2.4-kilometer foundation while the Port of NEOM commissioned its first container terminal in industrial Oxagon.

Updated May 31

Force in Play

Financing the Pakistani deployment to defend the kingdom

Pakistan sent about 8,000 troops, 16 JF-17 fighter jets, two drone squadrons, and a Chinese HQ-9 air defense system to Saudi Arabia in early April. Reuters and Bloomberg confirmed the deployment on May 18. The forces arrived during active fighting; on April 8, Pakistan announced a ceasefire that both Washington and Tehran credited.

Updated May 19

Force in Play

Facing renewed Yemen crisis threatening border security

Saudi Arabia bombed a port on December 30 to destroy weapons the UAE had shipped to the Southern Transitional Council, which had just seized 80% of Yemen's oil reserves. A vessel named Greenland had disabled its tracking system after leaving Fujairah on December 22 and unloaded combat vehicles and weapons at Mukalla on December 28 for the STC.

Updated May 18

New Capabilities

Political architect of Riyadh Air and the Saudi Aviation Strategy under Vision 2030

Riyadh Air, Saudi Arabia's startup flag carrier, is what IBM and the airline call the world's first "AI-native" airline — built from day one around AI-driven, cloud-based systems, not retrofitted legacy IT. Launched in March 2023 under Vision 2030, the airline has ordered large fleets from Boeing and Airbus and aims to connect over 100 destinations and serve millions of travelers by 2030 through Riyadh's planned mega-hub.

Updated May 10