Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (national security advisor)

Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (national security advisor)
Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (born 4 December 1968) is the son of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder of the United Arab Emirates. Since 2016 he has served as the National Security Advisor of UAE after having previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor. He manages a business portfolio that supports national security interests and the UAE's opaque corporate sector. The 2021 Pandora Papers revealed how he uses shell companies to conceal his wealth.
He is part of the ruling family in Abu Dhabi, brother of UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Tahnoun has been involved in numerous controversies, from violating EU sanctions against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, spying on political opponents in Project Raven, deals to re-sell Russia's Sputnik vaccine to poor countries at substantial mark-ups, orchestrating the Qatargate bribery case, and a smear campaign against Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood, as revealed 2023 in the Abu Dhabi Secrets.
Early life and education
Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi.
He has 5 brothers: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President and Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE's foreign minister. Tahnoon was educated in part at Hurtwood House in Holmbury St Mary, UK, from 1975 to 1977.
Career
From 2009-2013, he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Presidential Aviation Authority. In March 2013 President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan appointed him as a deputy national security advisor.
In February 2016 he was appointed as national security advisor. On 18 August 2020 Sheikh Tahnoun received Yossi Cohen, the Head of Israeli Intelligence Agency, Mossad after the UAE-Israel peace accord.
As of 2021, Tahnoun was chairman of ADQ (a state holding company worth 110 billion $), First Abu Dhabi Bank (the UAE's largest lender), Royal Group (a conglomerate) and International Holding Company.
Personal life
Sheikh Tahnoun is married to Sheikha Khawla bint Ahmed bin Khalifa Al Suwaidi, a poet and master calligrapher. They have one daughter together Sheikha Fatima bint Tahnoun who got married to Sheikh Mohammed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan in October of 2020. They have two children, Sheikha Hessa and Sheikh Tahnoun.
Sheikh Tahnoun is also married to Sheikha Latifa bint Jamhour Al Qubaisi. They have one son together, Sheikh Zayed bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan (born on 10 June 2008).
In addition Sheikh Tahnoun is a practitioner and patron of martial arts, especially Brazilian jiu-jitsu. In 1998, he created the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship alongside his BJJ instructor Nelson Monteiro.
Controversies
Violation of EU sanctions against Al Assad
In August 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported about the Donald Trump administration of imposing sanctions against the government 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 into her accounts helped circumvent European Union’s sanctions against the Syrian government funds. Sheikh Tahnoun, Aniseh Shawkat and her attorney Zubair Ahmad did not respond when reached out for comment.
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 Americans in 2014. Sheikh Tahnoun was the Deputy National Security Advisor to UAE back then.
Multiple ex-CIA officials 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."
Re-selling COVID-19 vaccines
Sheik Tahnoun runs the Royal Group, which is a UAE conglomerate. In 2021, the company was involved in controversial deals to re-sell Russia's Sputnik vaccine to poor countries at substantial mark-ups.
Pandora Papers
In October 2021, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released the Pandora Papers based on over 11.9 million documents, which mentioned the name of Tahnoun bin Zayed, alongside Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Qatargate scandal
In December 2022, Qatar denied its involvement in the Qatargate bribery case and accused the UAE of orchestrating the scandal. According to European Union correspondent Jack Parrock Qatari government officials believe that the scandal against Qatar has been planned by the UAE. The Italian news site Dagospia alleged that it was Tahnoun who executed the scandal against Qatar and provided tips to Belgium, which opened the investigation.
Abu Dhabi Secrets
In 2023, an investigation, termed Abu Dhabi Secrets, was released. The investigation revealed that Mario Brero provided the UAE with a list of over 1,000 individuals and 400 organizations in Europe, including over 200 individuals and 120 organizations in France, who were falsely linked to radical Islam. According to the The New Yorker, Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed was involved in the smear campaign against Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood as well.
References
House of Al Nahyan
Living people
1971 births
People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
People named in the Pandora Papers
Sons of monarchs