Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, AbZ (; born 30 April 1972) is an Emirati politician appointed as the

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

in 2006, and additionally one of four

deputy prime ministers Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

in 2009. He is the ninth son of the founder of the

Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (; 6 May 1918 – 2 November 2004) was an Emirati royal, politician, philanthropist and the founder of the United Arab Emirates. Zayed served as the governor of Eastern Region from 1946 until he became ...

. In 2020, he was a signatory of the

Abraham Accords The Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain on September 15, 2020. Mediated by the United States, the announcement of August ...

on behalf of the UAE.

Personal life

Abdullah bin Zayed was born in Abu Dhabi on 30 April 1972. He holds a degree in political science from

UAE University United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) () is a public research university located in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. Founded in 1976 by the country's first President, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, it is the oldest university in the United A ...

. He is married to Alyazia bint Saif Al Nahyan, who became an

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

Goodwill Ambassador extraordinary in 2010, and has five children: Fatima, Mohammad, Zayed, Saif and Theyab.

Career

Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates on 9 February 2006. In 2017, leaked emails highlighted that Abdullah bin Zayed maintained close contacts with UK prime minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

, who was being funded by the UAE as the Middle East peace envoy. Blair held a number of official meetings with the UAE Foreign Minister. The emails also revealed that Abdullah bin Zayed was one of the UAE royals who supported the envoy financially. In 2011, Abdullah's office separately sent

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

2 million to Blair through Windrush Ventures, which channeled money for Tony Blair's commercial advisory work. The UAE Foreign Ministry also transferred $12 million to Windrush for Blair consultancy work in Colombia, Vietnam and Mongolia. In August 2017, Abdullah urged Iran and Turkey to end what the UAE called their "colonial" actions in Syria, signaling unease about diminishing Gulf Arab influence in the war, and calling "the exit of those parties trying to reduce the sovereignty of the Syrian state." He added that "if Iran and Turkey continue the same historical, colonial and competitive behavior and perspectives between them in Arab affairs, we will continue in this situation not just in Syria today but tomorrow in some other country." On 14 February 2019, Abdullah said that Israel was justified in attacking Iranian targets in Syria. On 15 September 2020, Abdullah signed the official Israel–United Arab Emirates peace agreement in a ceremony at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, US. In February 2022, the UAE abstained in a UN Security Council vote to condemn Russia for invading Ukraine. Abdullah had a call with US Secretary of State

Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 71st United States secretary of state from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor, deputy national security advisor ...

prior to the UN Security Council vote. In the phone call, Blinken spoke of the "importance of building a strong international response to support Ukrainian sovereignty through the UN Security Council." The Emirati report of the phone call did not include Blinken's statement. On January 7, 2025 while serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs he received

Gideon Sa'ar Gideon Moshe Sa'ar (; born 9 December 1966) is an Israeli politician currently serving as Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), Foreign Minister and member of the Knesset for the party New Hope (Israel), New Hope. Sa'ar was first electe ...

, Minister of Foreign Affairs of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, in Abu Dhabi to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries.

Other roles

Abdullah bin Zayed is a member of the UAE's National Security Council, Deputy Chairman of the UAE's Permanent Committee on Borders, Chairman of the National Media Council, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Foundation for Youth Development, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) and Board Member of the National Defense College. He served as Minister of Information and Culture from 1997 to 2006. He had previously served as Chairman of Emirates Media Incorporated, Chairman of the UAE Football Association (1993–2001), and as the Under Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Culture from 1995 to 1997.

Honours

* :

Order of Skanderbeg Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

(decorated by President of Albania

Bujar Nishani Bujar Faik Nishani (; 29 September 1966 – 28 May 2022) was an Albanian politician. He served as the president of Albania from 24 July 2012 to 24 July 2017. Nishani was the youngest person to have been chosen as president of Albania, taking of ...

on 13 March 2016). * : Honorary Knight Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

Ancestry

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nahyan, Abdullah Zayed Sultan Abdullah Zayed Sultan Children of presidents of the United Arab Emirates Foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates Culture ministers of the United Arab Emirates Information ministers of the United Arab Emirates Deputy prime ministers of the United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates University alumni 1972 births Living people Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Sons of monarchs