Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
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Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (born 11 March 1961), also known as MBZ or MbZ, is an Emirati royal and politician who has served as the third president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi since 2022. Mohamed completed his education in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain and graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in April 1979. He later joined the UAE Armed Forces and held various posts before becoming a pilot in the UAE Air Force; he was promoted to general in 2005. Mohamed is the third son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first president of the UAE and the 16th ruler of Abu Dhabi. Mohamed became the crown prince of Abu Dhabi in November 2004, following the death of his father, when his brother, Sheikh Khalifa became the second president of the UAE and the ruler of Abu Dhabi. In 2014, Sheikh Khalifa suffered a stroke and Mohamed became the de facto president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi. Mohamed officially became president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi, after being chosen by the UAE Supreme Council, following the death of his brother on 13 May 2022. On 29 March 2023, Mohamed appointed his son Sheikh Khalid as crown prince of Abu Dhabi and his future successor. Scholars characterize the UAE under Mohamed as an authoritarian capitalist country, and a rentier state. In 2019, The New York Times named Mohamed as the most powerful Arab ruler, and was named as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2019 by Time magazine. He is known to be an opponent of the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran and its proxies in the Middle East. Since becoming de facto president, the UAE participated in the war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the Syrian civil war and was officially part of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen until Mohamed disagreed with Saudi Arabia's approach in the war for its support of Al-Islah, a party which is known to have close connections with the Muslim Brotherhood but has maintained his support of the Southern Transitional Council. Mohamed has also been the main backer of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Sudanese civil war. He fell out with the Obama administration on the Iran nuclear deal and supported the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. The UAE was a leading party in the Qatar diplomatic crisis, in which the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and other Arab countries like Egypt and Jordan severed diplomatic relations with Qatar based on claims that Qatar supports the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoot organizations. Mohamed maintained a close relationship with US President Donald Trump, with reports suggesting that Mohamed was pushing Trump to take a tougher stance on Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood. In September 2020, the UAE, alongside Bahrain, and later Morocco and Sudan, signed the Abraham Accords, an agreement to normalize diplomatic relationship with the State of Israel, a deal which was brokered by Trump. The UAE has more recently been involved in an economic rivalry with Saudi Arabia, and opposed Saudi efforts for OPEC+ production cuts.