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Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Naif bin Abdulaziz

A royal decree of 30 April 2015 said King Salman's son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was in his early 30s, will be deputy crown prince, replacing Muhammad bin Naif bin Abdulaziz. He retained his position of defence minister. The new deputy crown prince had played a key role in the Saudi-led coalition's aerial campaign in Yemen to try and stop the advance of Houthi fighters, backed by Iran.

In choosing Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as the Deputy Crown Prince, King Salman finally placed into the line of succession a grandson, rather than a son, of the founder of Saudi Arabia, King 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd al-Rahman Al Sa'ud. As the cohort of sons grew a year older each year, the issue of generational transfer had increasingly dominated discussions of royal succession. In the 1990s the leading figures among these 'Second Generation' princes included: Prince Bandar, his brother Khalid, Mohammed (son of Fahd and governor of the Eastern Province), Prince Saud (son of King Faisal and foreign minister), his brother Turki (chief of Foreign Intelligence), Lt. Gen. Sultan (son of Prince Salman), and Mitab (son of Abdullah).

"Based on choosing Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as the Deputy Crown Prince, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud called to give the Pledge of Allegiance to Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during the Pledge of Allegiance to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Crown Prince at Governance Palace in Riyadh after Isha prayers of this day, Friday, 03/04/1436H." [23 January 2015]

The naming of Mohammed bin Nayef as deputy crown prince ended the opportunity for in-fighting among the royals. King Abdullah worked much of his reign to limit the influence of the so-called Sudairi, the seven sons of the Kingdom’s founder, Abdulaziz bin Saud by his wife, Hassa, said to have been a slave from Yemen. But the Sudairis seemed to be pretty strong again. King Salman, a Sudairi, made his son defense minister and he made his full-brother’s son, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, deputy crown-prince-in waiting.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah appointed Prince Muhammad bin Naif bin Abdulaziz as minister of interior, in place of Prince Ahmed who had taken over the portfolio after the death of Prince Naif. “Prince Ahmed is relieved of his position as interior minister at his own request and Prince Muhammad bin Naif is appointed interior minister,” a Royal Decree said.

Prince Muhammad, son of the former Interior Minister Prince Naif who died in June 2014, had been deputy interior minister responsible for security affairs for many years. He was spearheading the Kingdom’s campaign against Al-Qaeda militants after the terrorist group launched a series of attacks across the country from 2003 to 2006.

Prince Mohammed, born in 1959, is a comparative youngster in Saudi politics, but no newcomer to public service. He was educated in the United States, and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science. After serving for more than a decade as assistant interior minister under his father, former Crown Prince Nayef, he was promoted to minister in 2012.

He is credited with having crackdown effectively on militants inside Saudi Arabia in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. He is the victim of four failed assassination attempts.

Prince Mohammed has for years been responsible for counter-terrorism activities at the interior ministry and is the architect of an much-publicized program for “recovering” jihadists, where inmates undergo psychological counseling and “soft” rehabilitation—including swimming pools and saunas.

He also has worked closely with the United States and allies in fighting Islamic State militants. “He will be seen internally as the ‘American’ candidate,’” said Karen Elliott House, author and expert on Saudi Arabia’s political affairs, “because he has worked so closely with the Americans—and also with every other Western government security apparatus that fights terrorism.”

Crown Prince Muqrin is the youngest-surviving son of ibn Saud, but is not a Sudairi. Though he is technically next-in-line for the throne, he is, “the odd man out.” Some in the royal family say he is the son of a concubine and cannot be king. And that meant that Mohammed bin Nayef, not Muqrin, could succeed Salman.