Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Saudi prince's tour, reforms eclipsed by Khashoggi case

Saudi prince's tour, reforms eclipsed by Khashoggi case

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince was visiting the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, the second stop of his high-profile tour of Gulf Arab states aimed at fortifying the kingdom’s traditional alliances as rival Iran resumes nuclear negotiations with world powers.
Mohammed bin Salman’s tour kicked off just after the kingdom hosted its first ever Formula One race and as its first international film festival was underway — events showcasing Saudi aspirations to be a cultural stomping ground and sweeping social reforms following decades under ultraconservative norms.

Looming over the week’s events, however, has been the 2018 murder of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi who was killed at the hands of agents who worked for the crown prince.

Khashoggi’s slaying was again brought into sharp focus when French authorities said Tuesday that a suspect in his killing was arrested at an airport near Paris, only to acknowledge a day later that the man being held was not the same one wanted in connection with the case. Saudi Arabia had maintained that the man in question was misidentified and had called for his immediate release.

Still, news of the arrest came at a sensitive time for Prince Mohammed, who arrived to the UAE’s seat of power, Abu Dhabi, late Tuesday to discuss bilateral ties, persistent tensions with Iran, the ongoing war in Yemen and other regional crises. The prince has been empowered by his father, King Salman, to manage the country’s day-to-day affairs.

The visit comes just days after the UAE’s national security adviser traveled to Tehran for a rare face-to-face meeting with Iran’s president. Saudi Arabia has also held direct talks with Iranian officials in Iraq.

In Abu Dhabi, state media reported that Prince Mohammed and the emirate’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed “lauded the strong brotherly relations between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, emanating from their belief in the shared destiny.”

“We are confident that together, we will be able to confront all challenges in the region and to maintain our common interests and the welfare of our peoples,” the Abu Dhabi crown prince, once seen as a mentor to the Saudi crown prince, was quoted in state media as saying during their meeting.

The traditional allies, however, have been increasingly competing for regional clout and investments as their foreign policies diverge.

On Wednesday, the Saudi crown prince visited his country’s pavilion at the World’s Fair in Dubai, where he met Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The Saudi pavilion on the multi-billion dollar site of Expo 2020 is second in size to the host nation’s falcon-shaped pavilion. Saudi Arabia is bidding to host the World’s Fair in 2030.

The crown prince began his regional outreach on Monday in Oman, which has maintained a policy of neutrality that’s allowed it to serve as a back channel for talks between regional rivals.

The crown prince is expected to visit Qatar next, following a rebuilding of ties that ended a deeply divisive standoff among the energy-rich Gulf Arab states. He will conclude his tour in Bahrain and Kuwait.

After initial Western criticism over Khashoggi’s killing in 2018 inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, big name investors, celebrities and sports stars have been making their way to Saudi Arabia in events organized and spearheaded by authorities ultimately overseen by Prince Mohammed. They’ve rebuffed calls by human rights organizations to boycott these events in protest of the ongoing crackdown against critics.

Earlier this week, celebrities such as Hillary Swank, Catherine Deneuve, Clive Owen and others were photographed on the red carpet at the inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival.

At the time of his killing, Khashoggi had been writing columns in The Washington Post critical of Prince Mohammed, even as he hailed parts of the crown prince’s social reform agenda.

The fiancée of the slain writer called on pop star Justin Bieber not to preform at the F1′s concert Sunday in the Red Sea city of Jiddah. Bieber took to the stage anyway, singing some of his most popular hits to an excited crowd of young Saudis and international visitors.

The Saudi government says such events showcase the kingdom’s potential and clout, and are tools to modernize the country.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×