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95-780: Created in 2011, the MiSK foundation was initiated by Mohammad bin Salman , then advisor to the Governor of Riyadh . The name of the Foundation comes from "misk" (" musk " in English); the perfume is a symbol of generosity and benevolence. The Foundation's work is focused on education , culture and media . In 2017, the Foundation became a "member company" of the MIT Media Lab consortium. The MiSK Art Institute, launched in 2017,

190-512: A 34,000 square kilometre area across a lagoon of 50 islands on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastline into a luxury tourism destination with laws on a par with international standards. In a further effort to boost the tourism industry, in November 2017 it was announced that Saudi Arabia would start issuing tourist visas for foreigners, beginning in 2018. Mohammed's biggest bet was his plan to restore Saudi dominance in global oil markets by driving

285-478: A classical power grab move sometimes to arrest your rivals, your potential rivals under the pretext of corruption". Trump expressed support for the move and confidence in the Saudi Arabian leaders, tweeting "Some of those they are harshly treating have been 'milking' their country for years!" French president Emmanuel Macron , who visited Riyadh days after the purge, when asked about the purge stated "this

380-560: A conservative attitude towards politics, and a liberal stance on economic and social issues. It has been heavily influenced by the views of his former adviser Saud al-Qahtani and the ruler of Abu Dhabi , Mohammed bin Zayed . His style of ruling has been described as extremely brutal by journalist Rula Jebreal and authoritarian by Jamal Khashoggi and Theodor Winkler. Mohammed bin Salman has also been championing an Arab nationalist ideology domestically and through foreign policy; with

475-482: A focus on opposing Islamist movements. Mohammed heads a repressive authoritarian government in Saudi Arabia. Human rights activists and women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia have faced abuse and torture by the regime. Critics, journalists and former insiders are tortured and killed. The government has targeted Saudi dissidents who are located abroad. Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist of The Washington Post ,

570-572: A group of women including Manal al-Sharif started a Facebook campaign named "Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself" or Women2Drive that says that women should be allowed to drive. The women said that their campaign was inspired by the Arab Spring . The campaign called for women to start driving from 17 June 2011. As of 21 May 2011 , about 12,000 readers of the Facebook page had expressed their support. Al-Sharif described

665-556: 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. A 2021 report by

760-601: A long war of attrition . In April 2015, King Salman appointed his nephew Muhammad bin Nayef as crown prince and his son Mohammed as deputy crown prince. In late 2015, at a meeting between his father and Barack Obama , Mohammed bin Salman broke protocol to deliver a monologue criticising US foreign policy . When he announced an anti-terrorist military alliance of Islamic countries in December 2015, some countries involved said they had not been consulted. Regarding his role in

855-460: A loud voice, and this has had an impact on me." In mid-2011, as Subaru vehicles tend to be marketed heavily towards women (in the US), several Saudi women groups including Saudi Women for Driving asked the parent company of Subaru, Fuji Heavy Industries , to stop selling motor vehicles in countries where women cannot drive. The following week, al-Huwaider filmed al-Sharif driving a car as part of

950-405: A mass seizure of assets by the bin Salman regime. The New York Times wrote: The sweeping campaign of arrests appears to be the latest move to consolidate the power of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the favorite son and top adviser of King Salman. The king had decreed the creation of a powerful new anticorruption committee, headed by the crown prince, only hours before the committee ordered

1045-451: A residential compound, where women are permitted to drive since roadways inside the compound are not considered to be public roads, but she left the compound and drove along a main highway. Al-Huwaider expressed the hope that the ban on women driving would be lifted by International Women's Day in 2009. In June–July 2007, a Gallup poll found that the majority of Saudi men and women thought that women should be allowed to drive. In 2011,

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1140-731: A second time the same day, al-Qahtani was given a ticket for driving without a Saudi Arabian licence. Al-Qahtani was pleased to receive the ticket, stating to a Time magazine journalist travelling with her, "It's a ticket. Write this down. I am the first Saudi woman to get a traffic ticket." The Guardian stated that "police appeared to be under orders not to intervene" during women's drives on 17 June. Two Saudi women were photographed by Thomson Reuters after driving in Riyadh on 22 June. On 29 June, five women driving in Jeddah were arrested. The Saudi Arabian blogger Eman al-Nafjan described

1235-467: Is bound by only a very small number whose reliability, 1,400 years later, is unimpeachable. Every other source of Islamic law, he said, is open to interpretation—and he is therefore entitled to interpret them as he sees fit. The effect of this maneuver is to chuck about 95 percent of Islamic law into the sandpit of Saudi history and leave MBS free to do whatever he wants. "He's short-circuiting the tradition," Haykel said. ".. That leaves him to determine what

1330-558: Is in the interest of the Muslim community. If that means opening movie theaters, allowing tourists, or women on the beaches on the Red Sea, then so be it.” As of early 2021, Mohammed has "ordered a codification of Saudi laws that would end the power of individual Wahhabi judges to implement" their own interpretation of Sharia. According to Wood, many conservative clerics strongly appear to have succumbed to "good old-fashioned intimidation" by

1425-715: Is not a religious issue as much as it is an issue that relates to the community itself that either accepts it or refuses it." However, he was later seen as the figure behind the removal of the driving ban in September 2017. On 26 September 2017, King Salman issued a statement recognizing the right of Saudi women to drive in keeping with Sharia . Licenses were set to be issued to women starting on 24 June 2018. Saudi authorities also contacted women to drive campaigners. Around 15–18 May 2018, Loujain al-Hathloul , Eman al-Nafjan , Aisha Al-Mana , Aziza al-Yousef , Madeha al-Ajroush , and several other women and two men also involved in

1520-548: Is not clear what those detained are suspected of." Another hypothesis was that the purge was part of a move towards reform. Steven Mufson of The Washington Post argues that Mohammed "knows that only if he can place the royal family under the law, and not above as it was in the past, can he ask the whole country to change their attitudes relative to taxes [and] subsidies." An analysis from the CBC claimed that "the clampdown against corruption resonates with ordinary Saudis who feel that

1615-562: Is not the role of a president, and similarly I would not expect a leader of a foreign country to come and infringe on domestic matters." On 30 January 2019, the Saudi government announced the conclusion of the Anti-Corruption Committee's work. As many as 500 people were rounded up in the sweep. Saudi Arabian banks froze more than 2,000 domestic accounts as part of the crackdown. According to The Wall Street Journal ,

1710-567: Is the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , 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, King Abdulaziz . Mohammed is the first child of King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his third wife, Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain . After obtaining

1805-709: Is the artistic branch of the MiSK Foundation. MiSK led the Saudi pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale, organizing an exhibition by the Jeddah -based Saudi artist Zahrah Al Ghamdi . In November 2018, a month after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi , the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pulled funding from the foundation. In 2017, the Gates Foundation had committed $ 5 million to MiSK. “Jamal Khashoggi’s abduction and murder are extremely troubling,” said

1900-566: The 2018–2019 Saudi crackdown on feminists . As of 23 August 2018 , twelve remained in detention without any legal charges laid against them and without legal representation. In late November 2018, the Women to Drive campaigners detained in Dhahban Central Prison were tortured. According to Human Rights Watch, several of the women were lashed and given electric shocks, one was "made to hang for long periods of time from

1995-695: The Arab Spring and the long duration of al-Sharif's detention with Saudi authorities' fear of protests. On 23 May, another woman was detained for driving a car. She drove with two women passengers in Ar Rass and was detained by traffic police in the presence of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) . She was released after signing a statement that she would not drive again. In reaction to al-Sharif's arrest, several more Saudi women published videos of themselves driving during

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2090-582: The Board of Fatwas [which issues religious rulings]... our laws are coming from Islam and the Qur'an , but we have the four schools — Hanbali , Hanafi , Shafi’i , Maliki —and they argue about interpretation. And you will find a Shiite in the cabinet, you will find Shiites in government, the most important university in Saudi Arabia is headed by a Shiite. So we believe that we are a mix of Muslim schools and sects." In 2016, Mohammed took steps to drastically curtail

2185-717: The General Directorate of Traffic for the rejection of her application for a driver's licence. Al-Sharif had applied for a licence in May 2011. The lawsuit was transferred to the Ministry of Interior . In early December, a member of the Consultative Assembly , Kamal Subhi, submitted a report to the Assembly saying that lifting the ban would cause prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce and

2280-611: The Houthis usurped power in Sana'a before he was minister of defence. In response to the threat from ISIL , Mohammed established the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC), a Saudi-led Islamic alliance against terrorism, in December 2015. The IMCTC's first meeting took place in Riyadh in November 2017 and involved defence ministers and officials from 41 countries. Mohammed

2375-487: The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia 's assets were approaching $ 400 billion and would pass $ 600 billion by 2020. Mohammed announced a project to build Saudi Arabia's first nuclear reactor in November 2018. The kingdom aims to build 16 nuclear facilities over the next 20 years. Efforts to diversify the Saudi energy sector also include wind and solar, including a 1.8 gigawatt solar plant announced in

2470-711: The Quran and the Sunnah , or the example of the Prophet Muhammad , gathered in many tens of thousands of fragments from the Prophet's life and sayings. Certain rules—not many—come from the unambiguous legislative content of the Quran, he said, and he cannot do anything about them even if he wants to. But those sayings of the Prophet (called Hadith ), he explained, do not all have equal value as sources of law, and he said he

2565-429: The "end of virginity". The head of the Assembly told women campaigners that he was "still open to hearing the case for lifting the ban". On 4 February, Samar Badawi , a human rights activist who had driven regularly since June 2011 and helped other women drivers with police and court procedures, filed similar charges to those of Manal al-Sharif, objecting to the rejection of her own driving licence application. Badawi

2660-1038: The Gates Foundation in a statement. In April 2022, MiSK Foundation acquired 96% ownership of the Japanese video game company SNK . In April 2024, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced the opening of its first regional office in partnership with Misk in Mohammed Bin Salman Nonprofit City . The announcement was made during the World Economic Forum special meeting held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Mohammad bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( Arabic : محمد بن سلمان آل سعود , romanized :  Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd ; born 31 August 1985), commonly known by his initials as MBS or MbS ,

2755-665: The Houthis' seizure of Sana'a , which had forced the Yemeni government into exile, Mohammed launched the intervention without full coordination across security services. Saudi National Guard minister Mutaib bin Abdullah Al Saud , who was out of the country, was left out of the loop of operations. While Mohammed sold the war as a quick win on Houthi rebels in Yemen and a way to put President Hadi back in power, however, it became

2850-688: The Ministry of Interior. Complete silence from all the officials." Loujain Al-Hathloul was arrested after she filmed her attempt to defy the ban of driving for Saudis Women. She was arrested for 73 days. Prince Mohammed bin Salman Prince Mohammed bin Salman talked about the Ban of Saudi Women Driving in an interview and he said that "Saudi Arabia is not ready for women drivers". The prince Mohammed also said that "Women driving

2945-613: The Palestinian issue? I don’t, but my people do." Mohammed bin Salman was born on 31 August 1985 to Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz and his third spouse, Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain . He is the eldest of his mother's six children and the eighth child and seventh son of his father. His full siblings include Prince Turki and Defense Minister Prince Khalid . Mohammed holds a bachelor's degree in law from King Saud University , where he graduated second in his class. After graduating from university, Mohammed spent several years in

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3040-480: The Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia , co-founded by Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia al-Uyyouni, submitted a 1,100-signature petition to King Abdullah asking for women to be allowed to drive. On International Women's Day 2008, al-Huwaider filmed herself driving, for which she received international media attention after the video was posted on YouTube . Al-Huwaider's drive began within

3135-764: The Saudi Arabian National Guard; Minister of Economy and Planning Adel Fakeih ; and the commander of the Royal Saudi Navy , Admiral Abdullah bin Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Sultan . Those arrested in the Ritz Carlton were the subject of what became called "the night of beating". Most were beaten, and some were tied to walls in stress positions as part of torture by Saudi agents. The interrogators knew very little outside of

3230-424: The Saudi government has promoted a new Saudi identity and nationalist history that downplays religious heritage and restricts Islamic influence in the cultural sphere. Journalist Graeme Wood writes, "it is hard to exaggerate how drastically this sidelining of Islamic law will change Saudi Arabia." Gabriella Perez argues that the new social changes implemented by MBS are oriented towards secularist repression, with

3325-473: The Saudi government targeted cash and assets worth up to $ 800 billion. The Saudi authorities claimed that amount was composed of assets worth around $ 300 billion to $ 400 billion that they can prove was linked to corruption. On 27 September 2022, Mohammed was appointed as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia by King Salman. Traditionally, the king has held the title of prime minister. Mohammed's ideology has been described as nationalist and populist , with

3420-635: The Saudi press announced the arrest of the Saudi prince and billionaire Al-Waleed bin Talal , a frequent English-language news commentator and a major shareholder in Citi , News Corp and Twitter, as well as over 40 princes and government ministers at the behest of the Crown Prince on corruption and money laundering charges. Others arrested or fired in the purge included Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, head of

3515-498: The United Arab of Emirates with the intention of crossing the border back to Saudi Arabia. As a part of the support of the issue of the Saudi ban on women drivers. Al-Hathloul filmed herself driving on 26 October 2014. Her videos had over 800,000 views, a hashtag on Twitter, and also over 3,000 comments on YouTube. The public opinion with Al-Hathloul's case was divided to two groups, one group was supportive to what Loujain did, and

3610-561: The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) found that Mohammed had ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi . Between 2017 and 2019, he led the purge of competing Saudi political and economic elites , seizing up to US$ 800 billion in assets and cash and cementing control over Saudi politics. Since his appointment as crown prince in 2017, Mohammed has introduced a series of social and economic reforms; these include curtailing

3705-684: The United States organised a protest in solidarity with Saudi women, planning to encircle the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C. In mid-June, three women from Minnesota , supported by an advocacy group, announced a gender discrimination complaint against Saudi Arabia's livery services in Rochester to coincide with the 2011 "Women2Drive" campaign. The music video to the M.I.A. song " Bad Girls ", released on 2 February 2012,

3800-474: The action as acting within women's rights, and "not protesting". Wajeha al-Huwaider was impressed by the campaign and decided to help. A woman from Jeddah , Najla Hariri, started driving in the second week of May 2011, stating "Before in Saudi, you never heard about protests. [But] after what has happened in the Middle East, we started to accept a group of people going outside and saying what they want in

3895-480: The al-Salam palace. In May 2017, Mohammed launched a purge against competing Saudi business and political elites under the auspices of anti-corruption. He said, "no one will survive in a corruption case—whoever he is, even if he's a prince or a minister". In November 2017, he ordered some 200 wealthy businessmen and princes to be placed under house arrest in The Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh . On 4 November 2017,

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3990-480: The arrests as "the first big pushback from authorities". She claimed that the June drives were more significant than the 1990 protest, stating, "When actually the 1990 protest was only fourteen cars that had 47 passengers, [from] June 17th and onwards there have been about seventy documented cases of women driving." In July, Princess al-Taweel , niece-in-law of Abdullah of Saudi Arabia , spoke about her opposition to

4085-411: The arrests. Writing for The Huffington Post , University of Delaware professor of Islam and Global Affairs, Muqtedar Khan , speculated as to whether the removal of Al-Waleed bin Talal, a critic of Donald Trump, amounted to a coup. BBC correspondent Frank Gardner was quoted as saying that "Prince Mohammed is moving to consolidate his growing power while spearheading a reform programme". Yet "[i]t

4180-620: The ban on abayas was restricted only for all-female examination centres run by the ETEC. Mohammed took the leadership in the restructuring of Saudi Arabia's economy , which he officially announced in April 2016 when he introduced Vision 2030, the country's strategic orientation for the next 15 years. Vision 2030 plans to reform Saudi Arabia's economy towards a more diversified and privatised structure. It details goals and measures in various fields, from developing non-oil revenues and privatisation of

4275-510: The campaign individually not to drive on 26 October, and police road blocks were assembled in Riyadh to check for women driving. On 26 September 2017, King Salman finally issued an order to allow women to drive, with new guidelines to be created and implemented by June 2018. Women to drive campaigners were ordered not to contact media and in May 2018, several, including Loujain al-Hathloul , Eman al-Nafjan , Aisha Al-Mana , Aziza al-Yousef and Madeha al-Ajroush , were detained. The ban

4370-448: The campaign individually to tell them not to drive. However, despite this discouragement and a heavy police presence, as of Sunday 27 October Saudi activists had posted 12 films on YouTube said to be of women driving on Saturday, and said some other women had also driven but without recording their exploits on video or in photographs. Also a YouTube film made by Hisham Alfageeh and other male Saudi comedians went viral on Saturday to support

4465-411: The campaign. The video was posted on YouTube and Facebook . Al-Sharif was detained and released on 21 May and rearrested the following day. On 30 May, al-Sharif was released on bail , on the conditions of returning for questioning if requested, not driving and not talking to the media. The New York Times and Associated Press associated the women's driving campaign with the wider pattern of

4560-533: The ceiling" and one tried several times to commit suicide. As of 21 November 2018 , the women had been publicly accused of "undermining state security and aiding enemies of the state" but had not yet been charged. As of 20 November 2018 , according to the Saudi newspaper Okaz , the women were to be tried at the Specialized Criminal Court , with prosecutors calling for prison terms of up to 20 years. In late March 2019,

4655-528: The chairman of the board for the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives, and a member of the board of trustees for Albir Society in the Riyadh region. In October 2011, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz died. Prince Salman began his ascent to power by becoming second deputy prime minister and minister of defence. He made Mohammed his private advisor. In June 2012, Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz died. Mohammed moved up into

4750-484: The cut would "increase Russian revenues and blunt the effectiveness of sanctions " and accused Saudi Arabia of "coercing" other oil producing countries to agree. The record-high energy prices were driven by a global surge in demand as the world quit the economic recession caused by COVID-19, particularly due to strong energy demand in Asia. The relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia evolved under Mohammed, granting

4845-425: The devotion of Saudi religious leaders to Wahhabi doctrines "in language never before used by a Saudi monarch", saying "there are no fixed schools of thought and there is no infallible person", and that fatwas "should be based on the time, place and mindset in which they are issued", rather than regarded as immutable. In interviews with Wood, Mohammed explained that Islamic law is based on two textual sources:

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4940-422: The economy to e-government and sustainable development . One of the major motives behind this economic restructure through Vision 2030 can be traced back to Saudi Arabia's reliance on a rentier economy, as a limit on oil resources makes its sustainability a problem in the future. While the country claims to own a proven reserve of 266.58 billion barrels of crude oil, the energy analyst Matthew R. Simmons estimates

5035-548: The economy; however, the country remains heavily reliant on oil. Under Mohammed, Saudi Arabia has pursued an "aggressive" foreign policy aimed at increasing the country's regional and international influence and attracting greater foreign investment. 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. Mohammed

5130-539: The first prince in modern Saudi history whose constituency has not been within the royal family, it's outside it. It's been young Saudis, particularly younger Saudi men in the street". Robert W. Jordan , former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said that "certainly Saudi Arabia has had a corruption problem for many years. I think the population, especially, has been very unhappy with princes coming in and grabbing business deals, with public funds going to flood control projects that never seem to get built... I would also say it's

5225-586: The following days. Wajnat Rahbini , a Saudi actress famous in the Arab world for playing in the satirical comedy Tash ma Tash , broadcast annually during Ramadan , drove her car "in defiance of a long-standing ban on female driving" on 4 June in Jeddah. She was detained after exiting her car and released the following day without bail. On 17 June, about 30 to 50 women drove cars in towns in Saudi Arabia, including Maha al-Qahtani and Eman Nafjan in Riyadh, and other women in Jeddah and Dammam . When she drove for

5320-519: The government to reverse their religious positions and supporting the government line on issues such as "the opening of cinemas and mass layoffs of Wahhabi imams". In December 2022, Saudi Arabia's Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC) declared a governmental ban on Muslim female students from wearing the traditional abaya clothing to examination centres; insisting that students should wear only school uniforms. A later clarification from ETEC reported by The Milli Chronicle stated that

5415-420: The hands of Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman and undermine the pre-existing structure of consensus-based governance among Saudi elites. The arrests resulted in the final sidelining of the faction of King Abdullah , and Mohammed bin Salman's complete consolidation of control of all three branches of the security forces. It also cemented bin Salman's supremacy over business elites in Saudi Arabia and resulted in

5510-422: The influence of Saudi Wahhabi clergy, "who still command millions of followers in the country and beyond". Mohammed's inviting of "a constant stream of Western male and female singers, bands, dancers and even American female wrestlers" to perform in Saudi Arabia is in complete conflict with religious conservatives who have spoken "against the opening up of the kingdom to secular Western culture ". Under Mohammed,

5605-495: 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. 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

5700-426: The military intervention, Mohammed gave his first on-the-record interview on 4 January 2016 to The Economist , which had called him the "architect of the war in Yemen". Denying the title, he explained the mechanism of the decision-making institutions actually holding stakes in the intervention, including the council of security and political affairs and the ministry of foreign affairs from the Saudi side. He added that

5795-514: The new competition into bankruptcy, by keeping the oil price low enough for a long enough period. Saudi Arabia persuaded OPEC to do the same. A few small players went bankrupt, but American frackers only shut down their less-profitable operations temporarily, and waited for oil prices to go up again. Saudi Arabia, which had been spending $ 100 billion a year to keep services and subsidies going, had to admit defeat in November 2016. It then cut production significantly and asked its OPEC partners to do

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5890-659: The number two position in the hierarchy, as his father became the new crown prince and first deputy prime minister. On 2 March 2013, Chief of the Crown Prince Court Saud bin Nayef Al Saud was appointed governor of the Eastern Province , and Mohammed succeeded him as chief of the court. He was also given the rank of minister. On 25 April 2014, Mohammed was appointed state minister. On 23 January 2015, King Abdullah died and Salman ascended

5985-445: The other one was not. Al-Hathloul tweeted her followers about her journey from the beginning. When she arrived at the border of Saudi Arabia she tweeted that she was stopped by a Saudi customs officer at the border. Al-Hathloul tweeted to her followers to keep them up with her and said: "Twenty-four hours spent on the border of Saudi." She also tweeted: "They won't give me back my passport and they won't let me pass through and no word from

6080-479: The potential to adversely impact freedom of religion in the country. In a 2018 interview with The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg , Mohammed stated regarding his basic approach to religion in Saudi Arabian society: "We believe we have, in Saudi Arabia, Sunni and Shiite . We believe we have within Sunni Islam four schools of thought, and we have the ulema [the religious authorities] and

6175-477: The powers of the " Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice " (CPVPV), or Islamic religious police. The "feared" CPVPV, which had thousands of officers on the streets and powers to arrest, detain, and interrogate those suspected of violating sharia, was banned "from pursuing, questioning, asking for identification, arresting and detaining anyone suspected of a crime". The cinema industry

6270-651: The private sector before becoming an aide to his father. He worked as a consultant for the Experts Commission, working for the Saudi Cabinet. On 15 December 2009, at the age of 24, he entered politics as a special advisor to his father when the latter was the governor of Riyadh Province . At this time Mohammed began to move from one position to another, such as secretary-general of the Riyadh Competitive Council, special advisor to

6365-458: The right to drive, and a film of al-Huwaider driving on International Women's Day 2008 attracted international media attention. In 2011, the Arab Spring motivated some women including al-Huwaider and Manal al-Sharif , to organise a more intensive campaign, and about seventy cases of women driving were documented in the latter half of June. In late September, Shaima Jastania was sentenced to ten lashes for driving in Jeddah , although

6460-608: The ruler. While Saudi rulers "have historically stayed away from religion", and "outsourced" issues of theology and religious law to "the big beards", traditionally conservative and orthodox religious scholars, Mohammed has "a law degree from King Saud University" and "flaunts his knowledge and dominance over the clerics", according to Graeme Wood. He is "probably the only leader in the Arab world who knows anything about Islamic epistemology and jurisprudence", according to American historian Professor Bernard Haykel . In an interview televised in Saudi Arabia on 25 April 2021, Mohammed criticised

6555-402: The salaries of the approximately 500,000 chauffeurs driving women in Saudi Arabia accounted for 1% of the national income. On 6 November 1990, 47 Saudi women in Riyadh drove their cars in protest against the driving ban. They were imprisoned for one day, had their passports confiscated, and some of them lost their jobs as a result of their activism. In September 2007, the Association for

6650-476: The same month as part of a long-term project in partnership with SoftBank . Saudi Arabia, OPEC 's largest producer, has the second-largest amount of oil reserves in the world. On 28 September 2021, Joe Biden 's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan , met with Mohammed in Saudi Arabia to discuss the high oil prices . In October 2022 in protest of Saudi Arabia cutting oil production, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Saudi Arabia knew

6745-432: The same. In the last week of September 2018, Mohammed inaugurated the much-awaited $ 6.7bn high-speed railway line connecting Mecca and Medina , the two holiest cities of Islam. The Haramain Express is 450 km line travelling up to 300 km/h that can transport around 60 million passengers annually. The commercial operations of the railway began on 11 October 2018. In October 2018, Mohammed announced that

6840-442: The sentence was later overturned. Two years later, another campaign to defy the ban targeted 26 October 2013 as the date for women to start driving. Three days before, in a "rare and explicit restating of the ban", an Interior Ministry spokesman warned that "women in Saudi [Arabia] are banned from driving and laws will be applied against violators and those who demonstrate support." Interior Ministry employees warned leaders of

6935-447: The state has been asking them to accept belt tightening while, at the same time, they see corruption and the power elite accumulating more wealth". Mohammed's reform agenda is widely supported by Saudi Arabia's burgeoning youth population, but faces resistance from some of the old guard more comfortable with the kingdom's traditions of incremental change and rule by consensus. According to a former British ambassador to Riyadh, Mohammed "is

7030-771: The then President of the United States , called him to "congratulate him on his recent elevation". Trump and Mohammed pledged "close cooperation" on security and economic issues, according to the White House, and the two leaders also discussed the need to cut off support for terrorism, the recent diplomatic dispute with Qatar, and the push to secure peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Mohammed told The Washington Post in April 2017 that without America's cultural influence on Saudi Arabia, "we would have ended up like North Korea." In April 2022, Prince Mohammed met with newly elected Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at

7125-479: The throne. Mohammed was appointed minister of defence and secretary general of the royal court. In addition, he retained his post as the minister of state. The political unrest in Yemen (which began escalating in 2011) rapidly became a major issue for the newly appointed minister of defence, with Houthis taking control of northern Yemen in late 2014, followed by the resignation of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and his cabinet. Mohammed's first move as minister

7220-502: The transactions as under duress and were able to stop some of them. During the proceedings, there was no due process nor plea bargains . US officials described the actions as "coercion, abuse, and torture". Detainees were denied sleep, had their heads covered, and were beaten. Seventeen had to be hospitalised. After many days, the remaining detainees were moved to Al-Ha'ir Prison , while some released are banned from travelling abroad. The purge helped centralize political powers in

7315-781: The true number to be far less, as the last non-Saudi report by the General Accounting Office in 1978 only mentioned 110 billion barrels. At the inaugural Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh in October 2017, Mohammed announced plans for the creation of Neom , a $ 500 billion economic zone to cover an area of 26,000 square kilometres on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, extending into Jordan and Egypt. Neom aims to attract investment in sectors including renewable energy , biotechnology (especially genetically modified agriculture ), robotics and advanced manufacturing. The announcement followed plans to develop

7410-560: The two nations the ability to coordinate in oil export decisions. Mohammed has presided over unprecedented spending on sport since becoming Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler in 2017. He has also been assiduous in striking deals to bring top sports events to Saudi, including the FIFA Club World Cup in 2034 and the Asian Games in 2029. In 2023, Mohammed said this approach is central to the country's goal of becoming one of

7505-508: The victims' assets within Saudi Arabia and wanted to know more about their off-shore holdings, while the victims did not know why they were detained. The detainees were threatened with blackmail. At one point, the interrogators told the victims to contact their bank managers in Geneva and elsewhere and ask for large sums of money, and were surprised due to their inexpertise that the assets were not entirely in cash. Swiss banks identified some of

7600-471: The women driving ban on the United States (US) radio station NPR and called for women to have equal rights in the workforce , in the legal system , and in education . She described these human rights as more important than the right to drive. In response to criticisms of women's rights campaigns, she described her approach as "evolution not revolution". At the end of September, Shaima Jastania

7695-536: The women presented their defence and described physical and sexual abuse they had endured in captivity. Aziza al-Yousef, Dr Rokaya Mohareb and Eman al-Nafjan were released on bail. An international new media campaign started in the US to support women drivers in Saudi Arabia with tweets, pictures, and YouTube videos of people honking to support women drivers in Saudi Arabia, included Rep. Nancy Pelosi and race car driver Leilani Münter . On 15 June 2011, women drivers in

7790-522: The women to drive movement and the anti male-guardianship campaign were detained by Saudi authorities. Human Rights Watch interpreted the purpose of the arrests as frightening "anyone expressing skepticism about the crown prince's rights agenda". On 24 June 2018, as promised by Saudi authorities, several women received driving licences and started driving their cars. Many of the women to drive movement and anti male-guardianship women activists, including Loujain al-Hathloul, remained in detention as part of

7885-628: The women's driving campaign, parodying the Bob Marley song "No Woman No Cry" as "No Woman No Drive". Loujain Al-Hathloul On 30 November 2014, Loujain Al-Hathloul made her move toward the Women to drive Movement in Saudi Arabia. As known, Saudi women are not able to have a driver's license, but Al-Hathloul previously obtained a driver's license from the United Arab Emirates. She filmed her experience of driving from

7980-419: The world's top 10 tourist destinations, stating: "When you want to diversify an economy you have to work in all sectors: mining, infrastructure, manufacturing, transportation, logistics all this… Part of it is tourism and if you want to develop tourism part of it is culture, part of it is your sport sector, because you need to create a calendar." Women to drive movement Until June 2018, Saudi Arabia

8075-454: Was a campaign calling for women to defy the ban in a protest drive on 26 October, which gained support from some prominent women activists. In response, the campaign's website ( www.oct26driving.org ) was blocked within Saudi Arabia and Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan , one of Saudi Arabia's top clerics, said women who drive risk damaging their ovaries and bearing children with clinical problems. Interior ministry employees had also contacted leaders of

8170-628: Was appointed crown prince on 21 June 2017, following the King's decision to depose Muhammad bin Nayef and make his own son the heir to the throne. The change of succession had been predicted in December 2015 by an unusually blunt and public memo published by the German Federal Intelligence Service , which was subsequently rebuked by the German government. On the day Mohammed bin Salman became crown prince Donald Trump ,

8265-583: Was asked by the Grievances Board to "follow-up in a week". The women to drive campaign circulated an email about the court case. On 29 June 2012, to celebrate the anniversary of the June 2011 driving campaign launch, a member of the My Right to Dignity women's rights campaign drove her car in Riyadh. She stated that she had driven about 30–40 times in 2011 and that about 100 Saudi women had driven regularly since June 2011. In October 2013, there

8360-408: Was murdered by the regime. Mohammed has justified the mass arrests of human rights activists as being as necessary for enacting reforms in Saudi Arabia and for establishing a state based on Arab nationalism . Mohammed has increasingly consolidated power in Saudi Arabia during his tenure as leader. He significantly restricted the powers of the Saudi religious police . On 29 January 2015, Mohammed

8455-487: Was named the chair of the newly established Council for Economic and Development Affairs , replacing the disbanded Supreme Economic Commission . In April 2015, Mohammed was given control over Saudi Aramco by royal decree following his appointment as deputy crown prince. According to David Ottaway of the Wilson Center , "[o]f all [Mohammed's] domestic reforms," the most "consequential" has been his work limiting

8550-489: Was officially lifted on 24 June 2018, but many of the women's rights activists remained under arrest. As of 23 August 2018 , twelve remained in detention. According to scholar David Commins, "In 1957, Riyadh pronounced a ban on women driving." As of 2012 , women's rights in Saudi Arabia were highly constrained in comparison to international standards. This included their right to drive cars and other motor vehicles. In 2002, The Economist magazine estimated that

8645-482: Was reinstated, social liberties were expanded, gender mixing and dating have been normalised by the state in the public sphere. Schmidt-Feuerheerd argues that the new state policies are also accompanied by an increasing clampdown on political and religious activities independent of the government. Mohammed has stated that "in Islamic law, the head of the Islamic establishment is wali al-amr (Arabic: وَلِيّ الأمر ),

8740-493: Was sentenced to 10 lashes for having driven a car in Jeddah. The sentence was announced shortly after King Abdullah decreed that women would be able to participate in the 2015 Saudi Arabian municipal elections and be appointed to the Consultative Assembly ; King Abdullah overturned the sentence. On 15 November 2011, Manal al-Sharif filed charges in the Grievances Board , a non- Sharia specialized court, against

8835-648: 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 reportedly told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in January 2024 that he was still open to Saudi normalization with Israel, adding, "Do I care personally about

8930-726: Was the only country in the world in which women were forbidden from driving motor vehicles. The Women to Drive Movement ( Arabic : قيادة المرأة في السعودية , romanized :  qiadat almar'at fi alsueudia , lit.   'Women Driving in Saudi Arabia';) was a campaign by Saudi women, whom the government denies many rights to which men are entitled, for the right to drive motor vehicles on public roads. Dozens of women drove in Riyadh in 1990 and were arrested and had their passports confiscated. In 2007, Wajeha al-Huwaider and other women petitioned King Abdullah for

9025-463: Was to mobilise a pan-GCC coalition to intervene following a series of suicide bombings in the Yemeni capital Sana'a via air strikes against Houthis , and impose a naval blockade . In March 2015, Saudi Arabia began leading a coalition of countries allied against the Houthi rebels. While there was agreement among those Saudi princes heading security services regarding the necessity of a response to

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