Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (national security advisor)

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Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan
National Security Advisor of UAE (more)
Prince Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan.jpg
Prince Tahnoun in late 2020
Born (1969-12-04) 4 December 1969 (age 52)
United Arab Emirates
Names
Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Arabicطحنون بن زايد آل نهيان
HouseAl Nahyan
FatherSheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
MotherSheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi

Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the son of the founder of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and currently serves as the National Security Advisor of UAE.[1] He has previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor in 2013.[2][3] He manages a business portfolio that straddles national security interests and the UAE's opaque corporate sector.[1]

He is part of the ruling family in Abu Dhabi. He is the half brother of UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as well as full brother of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE's foreign minister.

Business career[]

He is chairman of ADQ (a state holding company), the First Abu Dhabi Bank (the UAE's largest lender), Royal Group (a conglomerate); and International Holding Company.[1]

Political career[]

Deputy National Security Advisor (2013-2016)[]

The President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, issued a federal decree on 19 March 2013, appointing Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the Deputy National Security Advisor with a rank of minister.[4]

National Security Advisor (2016-present)[]

The President of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued a federal decree on February 14, 2016, appointing Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the National Security Advisor for the Emirates. Under the decree, Sheikh Tahnoun was to report directly to the Chairman of the Supreme Council for National Security.[5]

Sheikh Tahnoun received Yossi Cohen, the Head of Israeli Intelligence Agency, Mossad on 18 August 2020, after the success of the UAE-Israel peace accord.[6]

Controversies[]

Violation of sanctions[]

On August 16, 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported about the administration led by US President Donald Trump of imposing several sanctions against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, targeting financial-support networks aiding the President from outside the country, to coerce Damascus into peace talks. According to financial records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Sheikh Tahnoun deposited about $200,000 into the bank accounts held by the niece of Syrian President Assad, Aniseh Shawkat, over a period of several years as her sponsor. The UK authorities seized several of these bank accounts in 2019, claiming that hundreds of thousands of dollars deposited in the accounts of Ms Aniseh helped circumvent European Union’s sanctions against the Syrian regime funds. Sheikh Tahnoun, Aniseh Shawkat and her attorney Zubair Ahmad did not respond when reached out for comment.[7]

Project Raven[]

The Central Intelligence Agency of the United States was condemned for spying to all nations in the Arab world and Middle East region, except the UAE, despite the Gulf nation having hired former CIA officials for its Project Raven to spy on political targets, including several American in 2014. Sheikh Tahnoun was the Deputy National Security Advisor to UAE back then.[8]

Multiple ex-CIA officials have told Reuters that the agency does not gather "human intelligence" from the UAE informant because it shares common enemies with the United States. Retired CIA official "Norman Roule" defended the US for not spying on the Emirates, stating that the actions committed by Abu Dhabi have "contributed to the war on terror, particularly against al-Queda [Qaeda] in Yemen. " The foreign policy of the UAE has been in control of the Sheikh Tahnoun's elder brother and Abu Dhabi crown prince, Mohammed bin Zayed, whose son, Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed heads the country's internal surveillance network.[9]

Re-selling COVID-19 vaccines[]

Sheik Tahnoun runs the Royal Group, which is a UAE conglomerate.[10] In 2021, the company was involved in controversial deals to re-sell Russia's Sputnik vaccine to poor countries at substantial mark-ups.[10]

US lobbying[]

Sheikh Tahnoun was named in the lobbying scandal of Thomas Barrack, advisor and fundraiser of former US President Donald Trump. As per the indictment against Barrack, he was charged with lobbying the former administration on behalf of the UAE government and royals without registering himself as a foreign agent of the Gulf nation. The indictment cites three Emirati officials as number 1, 2 and 3, which as per people familiar with the matter are, Sheikh Tahnoun as the Emirati Official 2 and his brother and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as Emirati Official 1. The director of the Emirati intelligence service on the other hand was named as Official 3 in the indictment.[11]

Pandora Papers[]

In October 2021, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released a report based on over 11.9 million documents, which also mentioned the name of Tahnoun bin Zayed, alongside Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The report revealed that the National Security Adviser used unregistered “bearer shares” to own a British Virgin Islands company. Several jurisdictions have banned the bearer shares, which are owned by anyone who physically holds the share certificates and, thus, provide deep levels of secrecy.[12]

Sporting interests[]

Sheikh Tahnoun is an avid practitioner and patron of martial arts, especially Brazilian jiu-jitsu.[13]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c England, Andrew; Kerr, Simeon (25 January 2021). "The Abu Dhabi royal at the nexus of UAE business and national security | Free to read". www.ft.com. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  2. ^ "News". uaecabinet.ae. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  3. ^ (Wam). "President appoints Tahnoun bin Zayed as Deputy National Security Adviser". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  4. ^ "UAE President Appoints Tahnoun bin Zayed as Deputy National Security Advisor". The Supreme Council for National Security. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  5. ^ "President names Tahnoun bin Zayed as National Security Advisor". UAE Cabinet. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  6. ^ "UAE's National Security Advisor receives Head of Mossad". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Trump Administration Eyes New Phase of Syria Sanctions". The Wall Street Journal. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Inside the UAE's secret hacking team of American mercenaries". Reuters. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Why the CIA doesn't spy on the UAE". Reuters. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  10. ^ a b Sauer, Pjotr (9 July 2021). "A Royal Mark Up: How an Emirati Sheikh Resells Millions of Russian Vaccines to the Developing World". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  11. ^ "UAE Royals Said to Direct Tom Barrack's Influence Campaign". Bloomberg. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Pandora Papers reveal Emirati royal families' role in secret money flows". International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  13. ^ BJJEE (4 September 2019). "The Black Belt Sheikh: The Incredible Journey of Tahnoon the Godfather of Jiu-Jitsu". Bjj Eastern Europe. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
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