Saudi Arabia Gets New Foreign Minister

Saudi Arabia has appointed Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud foreign minister, replacing Ibrahim al-Assaf. The appointment caps a team of key ambassadors seen as being pro-western and intent on pushing back against Iranian influence, and also signals a further effort to mend Riyadh’s reputation, which has taken numerous hits of late over rights abuses and the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Faisal bin Faran is being brought back from Belin, where he was ambassador to Germany. Prior to that, he served as the political adviser at Riyadh’s Washington embassy. Saudi Arabia has also come under criticism for the way it has been waging a war against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, where attacks by a Saudi-led coalition have been blamed for numerous instances of civilian deaths and injuries.