WSJ: Mohammed bin Salman Changes Shelters with Special Security Team

Officials familiar with the movements of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 41, say he moves between heavily fortified palaces equipped with bunkers and is protected by a select, dedicated security team. His most recent public appearance was on Tuesday, when he donated blood to support a national blood donation campaign.

In a report on the escalating conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the American newspaper "Wall Street Journal" announced the high costs of Yemeni retaliatory attacks on Riyadh and other Saudi energy facilities and airports, and even announced the tightening of security measures and residence of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman following Yemen's missile attacks.

According to Ambassador Arjan, this report states:

The intensification of attacks on Riyadh, which is 500 miles or more from Yemeni territory, has turned parts of the Saudi capital into a war zone, with Riyadh residents fleeing for fear of rocket attacks as explosions echo throughout the city. Debris from an intercepted ballistic missile hit a kindergarten and a medical clinic complex on Thursday. Workers in the city's financial district, students from some international schools and diplomats were ordered to evacuate or take shelter.

Officials familiar with the movements of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 41, say he moves between heavily guarded palaces equipped with barricades and is protected by a select and special security team. His last public appearance was on Tuesday when he donated blood in support of a national blood donation campaign.

Christian Coates-Ulrichsen, a Persian Gulf expert and fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute, said the Saudi leader has few good options: "Any military response risks being drawn deeper into an asymmetric conflict in which the Yemenis have shown they are capable of inflicting significant and symbolic damage."

Over the past decade, Prince Mohammed bin Salman has spent a lot of money on a series of projects with incredibly complex engineering requirements that aim to showcase Saudi modernization and attract investment and tourism. These projects include the futuristic city of Neom, a massive cube-shaped building in Riyadh, and a cross-country ski resort. The total cost of these ambitious projects reaches trillions of dollars, which is very expensive for a government with an annual budget of about 350 billion dollars. On the other hand, the costs and economic losses of the American and Israeli war with Iran also make it even more impossible to balance these already impossible calculations.

Foreign investment decreased in the first two quarters of this year and is far behind the crown prince's target for 2030. The increase in military and infrastructure costs brings the risk of not attracting the funds needed for the economic diversification plan. Even Bin Salman's attempt to become an AI hub in the region now faces new risks, as AI data centers have now become targets for Yemeni attacks.

Many of the huge projects that were started under the leadership of Mohammed bin Salman have been stopped or are being reviewed. In January, Saudi Arabia dropped its plans to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. The country still needs to find a way to finance the 2030 World Expo and the FIFA World Cup four years later.

According to the report of "Capital Economics" institute, the non-oil sector of this country's economy has shrunk in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Finance now predicts that the country's GDP will decline by 3.6 percent in 2026.