, 16 January 2013
Early career Muhammad bin Nayef was appointed assistant interior minister for security affairs in 1999. He had been a businessman before this appointment. He was widely credited for the success of the Saudi
counter-terrorism program, and was regarded as the architect of the government's counter-insurgency program. After the appointment of Prince
Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as interior minister upon Prince Nayef's death in July 2012, Prince Muhammad became deputy interior minister. In November 2009,
King Abdullah appointed Muhammad as a member of the influential
Supreme Economic Council of Saudi Arabia. This move was regarded as approval of the increase in then-Crown Prince Nayef's power by King Abdullah. Prince Muhammad took the oath of office in front of King Abdullah on 6 November 2012. and U.S. President
Barack Obama in Washington. In late January 2013, Prince Muhammad announced that
Saudi women would be allowed to work at the Saudi intelligence agency. Muhammad was assisted in this effort by Prince
Mutaib bin Abdullah, the minister of the
Saudi Arabian National Guard. On 10 February 2017, the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) granted its "George Tenet Medal" to Prince Muhammad for what the agency called his "excellent intelligence performance, in the domain of counter-terrorism and his unbound contribution to realize world security and peace". The medal, named after
George Tenet, CIA's longest-serving director, from 1996 to 2004, was handed to him by the newly appointed CIA director
Mike Pompeo during a reception ceremony in Riyadh in the presence of minister of defense Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. It was the first reaffirmation of ties between the Islamic monarchy and United States since President
Donald Trump took office on 20 January 2017. The reception was attended by senior civil and military officials and by the U.S.
Charge d'affaires to the Kingdom, Christopher Hensel. Prince Muhammed and Pompeo discussed security with Turkish officials, and said Saudi Arabia's relationship with the U.S. is "historic and strategic". He added that the move shows Washington's recognition of what he called Riyadh's anti-terrorism efforts.
Views In the mid-2000s, Muhammad bin Nayef, unlike most of the royal family, talked to the media. Like his father, Prince Nayef, he took a hard line against
terrorism in Saudi Arabia. The third attempt was on 27 August 2009. Al-Asiri is believed to have traveled to Jeddah from the Yemeni province of
Marib. During
Ramadan, al-Asiri waited in line at the Prince's palace as a "well-wisher". He exploded a suicide bomb, killing himself, but apparently only slightly injuring Muhammad bin Nayef, who was protected from the full force of the blast by al-Asiri's body. MBN's younger cousin,
Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), was named deputy crown prince at age 29. The two princes frequently clashed, and MBS, known for his ambition, quickly consolidated influence within the royal court. MBS and MBN also jockeyed for influence with other
Trump administration officials, such as
Jared Kushner; their competition to gain the administration's favor was another major source of contention. Sheikh
Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of
Abu Dhabi, who had a poor relationship with MBN, supported MBS during the power struggle. Amid rising tensions, MBN's closest advisor, the intelligence official
Saad Aljabri, fled to Turkey with his family. ==Ousted as crown prince in 2017==