Timeline
19742026
Every entry gives the year, the event, his role, the context and why it matters. Events in which he was not the principal Saudi actor are marked Context so they are not mistaken for his own acts.
1974–2016
1 November 1974
Born in Frankfurt am Main
- Role
- —
- Context
- Then West Germany; the ministry gives the year only.
- Significance
- His first ambassadorship, in 2019, would be to the country of his birth.
1996 – 1998
Saudi Company for Maintenance and Operation
- Role
- Vice-chairman
- Context
- First documented post.
- Significance
- Beginning of two decades in business.
2001 – 2013
Alsalam Aerospace Industries
- Role
- Boeing’s board representative; vice-chairman, then chairman
- Context
- A Riyadh-based joint venture with Boeing.
- Significance
- His longest single role.
2003 – 2017
Shamal Investment Company
- Role
- Co-founder and chairman
- Context
- Parallel to the Alsalam role.
- Significance
- Ended the year he entered government.
25 April 2016 Context
Vision 2030 launched
- Role
- None
- Context
- Announced by then Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
- Significance
- Frames the economic agenda of Saudi diplomacy from then on.
2017–2018
January – April 2017
Enters government
- Role
- Senior adviser, Crown Prince’s office
- Context
- Listed in the ministry’s biography.
- Significance
- The move from business to public service.
2017
SAMI board; adviser at the foreign ministry
- Role
- Board member and executive-committee chairman at Saudi Arabian Military Industries; adviser at MOFA
- Context
- SAMI is owned by the Public Investment Fund.
- Significance
- First post inside the ministry he would lead.
2018 – 2019
Washington
- Role
- Senior adviser, Saudi embassy
- Context
- Arab News dates the posting from 2017.
- Significance
- Working knowledge of the US relationship.
2019
10 February 2019
Ambassador to Germany
- Role
- Ambassador, by royal order
- Context
- Credentials presented to President Steinmeier on 27 March 2019.
- Significance
- His only ambassadorship.
23 October 2019
Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Role
- Minister, by royal order of King Salman
- Context
- Succeeded Dr Ibrahim Al-Assaf; reported sworn in on 29 October.
- Significance
- Sixth person to hold the office since 1930.
2020
6 January 2020 Context
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden council charter
- Role
- Not detailed in sources
- Context
- Signed in Riyadh by eight littoral states.
- Significance
- A Saudi-hosted regional framework.
3 September 2020
G20 foreign ministers’ extraordinary meeting
- Role
- Presided, for the Saudi presidency
- Context
- Virtual meeting on cross-border measures during Covid-19.
- Significance
- First multilateral chairmanship.
9 December 2020
Khartoum
- Role
- Official visit
- Context
- Talks with Sudanese officials.
- Significance
- Early engagement with Sudan’s transition.
2021
5 January 2021
AlUla Declaration
- Role
- Announced the outcome with the GCC Secretary-General
- Context
- Ended the boycott of Qatar begun in June 2017.
- Significance
- Restored Gulf unity.
April 2021 Context
Saudi–Iranian talks in Baghdad
- Role
- None; led by the intelligence chief
- Context
- Five rounds to April 2022.
- Significance
- Prepared the 2023 agreement.
14 October 2021
Washington
- Role
- Talks with Secretary Blinken
- Context
- Iran’s nuclear programme and regional issues.
- Significance
- First meeting with the new US administration’s secretary of state at the State Department.
2022
10 January 2022
Wuxi
- Role
- Talks with Wang Yi
- Context
- First foreign minister to visit China that year.
- Significance
- Deepening ties with Beijing.
19 – 20 July 2022
Tokyo and Seoul
- Role
- Official visits
- Context
- Received by Prime Minister Kishida and President Yoon.
- Significance
- Engagement with Asia’s energy importers.
10 September 2022
India–Saudi ministerial committee
- Role
- Co-chair, with S. Jaishankar
- Context
- Under the 2019 Strategic Partnership Council.
- Significance
- First meeting of the committee.
27 September 2022
Retained in the new cabinet
- Role
- Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Context
- The Crown Prince became Prime Minister.
- Significance
- Continuity at the ministry.
2023
26 February 2023
Kyiv
- Role
- Signed US$400 million in agreements
- Context
- Met President Zelenskyy.
- Significance
- Highest-level Saudi visit to Ukraine in about thirty years.
At talks in a state room. The setting closely matches official photographs of his meeting with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv on 26 February 2023, but no caption confirming this frame was found. 10 March 2023 Context
Beijing agreement with Iran
- Role
- None; concluded by the National Security Adviser
- Context
- Relations cut in 2016 were restored.
- Significance
- Reshaped regional diplomacy.
6 April 2023
Beijing
- Role
- Met Hossein Amir-Abdollahian
- Context
- Joint statement on reopening embassies.
- Significance
- Implemented the March agreement.
18 April 2023
Damascus
- Role
- Received by President Assad
- Context
- First Saudi official visit since 2011.
- Significance
- Preceded Syria’s return to the Arab League on 7 May.
17 – 19 May 2023
Jeddah Arab League summit
- Role
- Chaired the foreign ministers’ meeting
- Context
- Syria’s first summit after readmission.
- Significance
- Saudi presidency of the summit.
17 June 2023
Tehran
- Role
- Official visit; met President Raisi
- Context
- First Saudi foreign-minister visit since the restoration.
- Significance
- Consolidated the rapprochement.
11 November – December 2023
Arab-Islamic committee on Gaza
- Role
- Chair
- Context
- Visits to Beijing, Moscow, London, Paris and Washington.
- Significance
- Began his leading role on Gaza diplomacy.
2024
January – February 2024
Davos and Munich
- Role
- Panellist
- Context
- Linked regional peace to a Palestinian state.
- Significance
- Set out the Saudi position to Western audiences.
26 September & 30 October 2024
Global Alliance for the Two-State Solution
- Role
- Launched it; opened its first meeting
- Context
- About 90 states and organisations in Riyadh.
- Significance
- A Saudi-led coalition on Palestinian statehood.
October – November 2024
Kazan and Rio de Janeiro
- Role
- Headed the delegation for the leadership
- Context
- BRICS as an invited country; G20 leaders’ summit.
- Significance
- Representing the Crown Prince at summit level.
3 December 2024
Saudi–French Strategic Partnership Council
- Role
- Signed the memorandum
- Context
- During President Macron’s state visit.
- Significance
- Prepared the 2025 co-chairmanship with France.
2025
12 – 24 January 2025
Syria and Lebanon
- Role
- Convened the Riyadh meetings; visited Beirut and Damascus
- Context
- New governments in both countries.
- Significance
- Re-established Saudi presence in the Levant.
18 February & 11 March 2025 Context
Talks hosted in Riyadh and Jeddah
- Role
- Present as host
- Context
- At the Crown Prince’s direction.
- Significance
- The Kingdom as a venue for great-power talks.
28 – 30 July & 22 September 2025
UN conference on the two-state solution
- Role
- Co-chair, with France
- Context
- The New York Declaration was endorsed by the General Assembly 142–10 on 12 September.
- Significance
- The high point of his multilateral diplomacy to date.
27 September 2025
UN General Assembly, 80th session
- Role
- Delivered the Kingdom’s address
- Context
- Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Sudan.
- Significance
- Fourth consecutive UNGA address.
22 November 2025
G20 Johannesburg
- Role
- Represented the Crown Prince
- Context
- First G20 summit in Africa.
- Significance
- Continuity in the G20.
2026
January 2026
Board of Peace
- Role
- Signed the charter at Davos
- Context
- Gaza ceasefire and reconstruction.
- Significance
- Saudi membership of the new body.
28 February 2026 Context
Regional war
- Role
- —
- Context
- US and Israeli strikes on Iran; Iranian strikes on Gulf states including Saudi Arabia.
- Significance
- Defines the year’s diplomacy.
18 – 19 March 2026
Riyadh consultative meeting
- Role
- Host
- Context
- Arab and Islamic foreign ministers on Iranian attacks.
- Significance
- Regional coordination under attack.
26 – 27 March 2026
G7 foreign ministers, France
- Role
- Invited partner
- Context
- Session on global-governance reform.
- Significance
- Engagement with the G7.
29 July 2026
Rome
- Role
- Co-chaired the Global Alliance session
- Context
- With Italy’s Antonio Tajani.
- Significance
- The Alliance’s continuation.
31 August – 10 September 2026
Istanbul, Berlin, Moscow, Paris
- Role
- Trilateral defence committee; strategic-dialogue MoU with Germany; talks with Lavrov; International Space Summit
- Context
- Houthi attacks on the Kingdom from July.
- Significance
- The latest verified engagements, as of 11 September 2026.
Sources & Further Reading
- Sources for each entry are given on the pages that treat the event in detail: Career, Diplomatic Journey, International Engagements and Speeches & Statements.
- MOFA minister’s biography (Arabic). mofa.gov.sa
- Arab News profile, 25 October 2019. arabnews.com
- Wikimedia Commons, official photographs of the meeting in Kyiv, 26 February 2023 (for comparison). commons.wikimedia.org