Disagreements with Mohammed bin Salman overthrow al-Assaf from the Foreign Ministry

King Salman ousted Ibrahim al-Assaf from his post as foreign minister and was appointed to replace Faisal bin Farhan.

Royal decrees issued by Salman included the appointment of al-Assaf as minister of state and member of the cabinet.

Al-Assaf was appointed foreign minister in December 2018, after being among the influential Saudi figures arrested by royal order at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh in November 2017 to investigate allegations of financial corruption.

Al-Assaf has suffered from marginalization and non-fulfillment of his responsibilities and has remained rare in international forums amid assurances of dissatisfaction with Mohammed bin Salman.

The new foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan, has served as his country’s ambassador to Germany since February, and has served as senior adviser to his country’s embassy in the United States.

King Salman Nabil al-Amoudi was also relieved of his post as minister of transport and decided to appoint Saleh al-Jasser as his replacement.

Al-Jasser previously served as Director of Saudi Arabian Airlines since 2014.

King Abdullah Al-Ghamdi was appointed Chairman of the Saudi Commission for Data and Artificial Intelligence with the rank of Minister.

Saleh Al Othaim was also appointed Vice President of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SAGIA).

The royal decrees included the appointment of Issam Al-Waqit as director of the National Information Center at the top rank.

Finally, Tariq al-Sheddi was appointed head of the National Data Management Office at the top rank.