Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyanمحمد بن زايد آل نهيان |
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Sheikh Mohammed in 2024
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| 3rd President of the United Arab Emirates | |||||
| Assumed office 14 May 2022 |
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| Prime Minister | Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum | ||||
| Vice President |
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| Preceded by | Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan | ||||
| Ruler of Abu Dhabi | |||||
| Reign | 13 May 2022 – present | ||||
| Predecessor | Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan | ||||
| Heir apparent | Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan | ||||
| Born | 11 March 1961 Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, Trucial States |
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| Spouse |
Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan
(m. 1981) |
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| Issue Detail |
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| House | Al Nahyan | ||||
| Father | Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan | ||||
| Mother | Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi | ||||
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Education
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| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||
| Military career | |||||
| Allegiance | United Arab Emirates | ||||
| Service/ |
United Arab Emirates Air Force | ||||
| Years of service | 1979–present | ||||
| Rank | General | ||||
| Commands held |
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Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (Arabic: محمد بن زايد آل نهيان, romanized: Muḥammad bin Zāyid Āl Nahyān; born 11 March 1961), popularly known by his initials as MBZ or MbZ, is an Emirati royal and politician who currently serves as the third president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi.
MBZ 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 Military and held various posts before becoming a pilot in the UAE Air Force; he was promoted to general in 2005.
Sheikh Mohamed is the third son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who was the first president of the UAE and the 16th ruler of Abu Dhabi. MBZ became the crown prince of Abu Dhabi in November 2004, following the death of his father and 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 MBZ became the de facto president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi. MBZ 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, MBZ appointed his son Sheikh Khalid as crown prince of Abu Dhabi and his future successor.
Academics have characterized the UAE under MBZ as an authoritarian capitalist country. Since Mohamed became the de facto president, he introduced policies which aimed at economic liberalization. This included the introduction of VAT in 2018, corporate taxes and bankruptcy laws; the elimination of gas subsidies, as well as the removal of curbs of foreign ownership of businesses and the decriminalization of bounced cheques. MBZ also introduced liberal social policies.
MBZ is known to be a fierce 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 the MBZ disagreed with the 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. MBZ 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. MBZ maintained a close relationship with former US President Donald Trump, with reports suggesting that MBZ was pushing Trump to take a more tough 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.
In 2019, The New York Times named him as the most powerful Arab ruler, and was named as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2019 by Time magazine. In 2023, the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre ranked MBZ as the eighth-most influential Muslim.
Contents
Family and early life
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed was born at Oasis Hospital in Al Ain on 11 March 1961, in what was then known as the Trucial States.
He is the third son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who became the founder and first president of the United Arab Emirates and the 16th ruler of Abu Dhabi, and his third wife, Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi.
Mohamed has 18 brothers: Hamdan, Hazza, Issa, Nahyan, Saif, Tahnoun, Hamed, Mansour, Falah, Theyab, Abdullah, Omar, Khalid, the late Khalifa, the late Sultan, the late Saeed, the late Nasser, and the late Ahmed. In addition to these, he has eleven sisters.
He has five younger full brothers: Hamdan, Hazza, Tahnoun, Mansour, and Abdullah. They are referred to as Bani Fatima - or the sons of Fatima.
Education
Sheikh Mohamed attended schools in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi and a summer at Gordonstoun until the age of 18. In his youth, his father put Izzedine Ibrahim, a respected Egyptian Islamic scholar with connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, charge of his education.
Mohammed later joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and graduated in April 1979. During his time at Sandhurst, he completed a fundamental armor course, a fundamental flying course, a parachutist course, and training on tactical planes and helicopters, including the Gazelle squadron. During his time in Sandhurst, he met and became good friends with Abdullah of Pahang, who would later become the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia. They were both officer cadets at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
In the 1980s as a young military officer, he enjoyed vacationing in Tanzania, where he met the Masai people and saw their customs and the extent of poverty in the country. Upon his return he went to see his father. His father asked him what he had done to help the people he had encountered. Mohamed shrugged and said he had not helped them because the people he met were not Muslims. Mohamed said that his father "clutched my arm, and looked into my eyes very harshly. He said, 'We are all God's creatures.'"
He has held a number of roles in the UAE military, from that of an officer in the Amiri Guard (now called Presidential Guard) to a pilot in the UAE Air Force.
Political career
Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi
In November 2003, Sheikh Zayed appointed his son Mohamed as deputy crown prince of Abu Dhabi. Upon the death of his father, Sheikh Mohamed became crown prince of Abu Dhabi in November 2004 and was appointed deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces in January 2005. Later that month, he was promoted to the rank of general. Since December 2004 he has also been the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, which is responsible for the development and planning of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and is a member of the Supreme Petroleum Council. He also served as a special adviser to his older half-brother, Khalifa bin Zayed, president of the UAE at the time.
As a result of Sheikh Khalifa's ill health, Mohamed became the de facto ruler of Abu Dhabi in January 2014 and was responsible for welcoming foreign dignitaries in the capital district of the United Arab Emirates in the city of Abu Dhabi. On 13 May 2022, he became the ruler of Abu Dhabi, following the death of his brother Khalifa. On 14 May 2022, he was elected as president of the United Arab Emirates.
Foreign policy
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In 2018, Mohamed travelled to Ethiopia to meet Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ahead of the first installment of a $3 billion donation from the UAE to Ethiopia, intended to tide over its foreign exchange shortage. Under Mohamed's encouragement and initiative, the UAE raised funds to provide aid to Somalia during periods of drought.
Mohamed is a supporter of Yemen's internationally recognized government after the Yemen civil war and supported the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen to drive out Irani-backed Houthi militants after the Houthi takeover in Yemen.
In March 2023, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad conducted a state visit to the UAE where he was received with full honours in Abu Dhabi by Sheikh Mohamed.
United States
Mohamed regards the United States as his chief ally and has a strong relationship with United States diplomats including US former Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis and US former national security advisor and counter-terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke. As unpaid advisers, Mohamed consults them and follows their advice on combating terrorism and enhancing the UAE's military strength and intelligence. Mohamed had an initially good relationship with the Obama administration but the relationship deteriorated when Barack Obama did not consult with or even inform the UAE about the Iran nuclear deal. A further breakdown in relations was caused over their different positions on the Syrian civil war. According to an Emirati senior adviser, "His Highness felt that the UAE had made sacrifices and then been excluded." However, Mohamed continued talking to Obama regularly and offered him advice. Mohamed warned Obama that his proposed remedy in Syria — the Free Syrian Army rebels who were allied to Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood — would be worse than the cancer of Bashar al-Assad. He also urged Obama to talk to the Russians about working together on Syria, and supported the Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war. The relationship deteriorated further when Obama made dismissive comments in a 2016 interview in The Atlantic, describing the gulf's rulers as "free riders" who "do not have the ability to put out the flames on their own". After the election of Donald Trump, Mohamed flew to New York to meet the president-elect's team and canceled a parting lunch with Obama.
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Mohamed shared similar ideas with President Trump regarding Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, as Trump has sought to move strongly against both. When Mohamed was a child, his father Sheikh Zayed unknowingly assigned a respected Muslim Brotherhood member, Ezzedine Ibrahim, as Mohamed's tutor. His tutor attempted an indoctrination that backfired. "I am an Arab, I am a Muslim and I pray. And in the 1970s and early 1980s I was one of them," Mohamed told visiting American diplomats in 2007 to explain his distrust of the Muslim Brotherhood, as they reported in a classified cable released by WikiLeaks. He stated, "I strongly believe these guys have an agenda." Trump also shared Mohamed's views on Qatar, Libya and Saudi Arabia, even over the advice of cabinet officials and senior national security staff. In August 2020, Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohamed jointly announced the establishment of formal Israeli–Emirati relations.
In September 2024, Mohamed bin Zayed visited the United States, marking the first ever visit of an Emirati President to the White House. MbZ met President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris separately, discussing the future bilateral economic and technological relations. Besides, Biden also designated the UAE as a “Major Defense Partner”, a decision that faced opposition due to the Emirates’ “secret” support to the RSF in Sudan conflict. Ahead of MbZ’s visit to Washington, the US lawmakers also sent a letter to Biden, asking him to discuss Sudan’s crisis with MbZ. The lawmakers stated that the UAE’s backing of RSF could hinder Biden’s efforts to end the conflict.
Egypt
On 22 March 2022, Sheikh Mohamed met with President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Egypt. They discussed trilateral relations and the Iran nuclear deal.
Russia
Mohamed maintains a strong relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin, and has brokered talks between Russia and the Trump administration. Mohamed's strong relationship with both Russia and the United States, as well as the influence he wields across both countries, has led The New York Times to label him as the Arab World's "most powerful ruler".
In June 2023, Sheikh Mohamed met Putin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), and said the Emirates wished to strengthen ties with Russia. Mohamed became the most prominent attendee, as the UAE was a special guest country at the event.
Turkey
In August 2021, Mohamed held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to discuss reinforcing relations between their two countries. This came after years of each state supporting opposing sides in regional conflicts, such as that in Libya. Relations started to improve between the two regional rivals – the UAE and Turkey – following the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the withdrawal of the US troops.
South Africa
The Emirates’ policy in Africa majorly involved three categories– Commercial, strategic and financial role. Under Mohamed’s leadership, the Emirates’ total investments into Africa increased to $110bn, as China was cutting down loans to the continent. In 2022 and 2023, the Emirates also pledged investments worth $97bn across ports, renewable energy, mining, agriculture, real estate, communications and manufacturing in Africa. In a decade, the UAE maintained a position amongst the top 4 investors of Africa. The Emirati influence in Africa has also been on the rise. Even though Dubai denied to extradite Gupta brothers, who were accused of looting South Africa by the authorities, Mohamed was welcomed in the state. Mohamed also donated around $1mn to upgrade a runway of an airport in the Eastern Cape province. In April 2023, Mohamed, his family and friends, traveled to Eastern Cape to stay at his private resort to celebrate Eid. The UAE’s presence was also seen in wars, including in Libya, Ethiopia and Sudan. In Ethiopia, the Emirates provided military support to the government in the war against the forces from Tigray. In 2019 and 2020, the UAE’s actions in the Libya war were controversial, where it supported the Libyan warload, Khalifa Haftar. In Sudan, the UAE was accused of fueling the war by supporting Hemedti’s Rapid Support Forces, which the Emirates has repeatedly denied.
Nuclear energy
Under Mohamed's leadership, the UAE built the first-ever nuclear power reactor in the region, the Barakah nuclear power plant. The UAE and US signed a bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation that enhances international standards of nuclear non-proliferation. Mohamed was at the Nuclear Security Summit of 2012 and 2014, which were hosted by South Korea and the Netherlands respectively.
Religion in the UAE
Islam is the official religion of the UAE and there are laws against blasphemy, proselytizing by non-Muslims, and conversions away from Islam. The constitution of the UAE guarantees freedom of worship, unless it contradicts public policy or morals. The UAE government tightly controls and monitors Muslim practices. A government permit is required to hold a Quran lecture or distribute content related to Islam in an effort to combat decentralized preaching from Islamist groups. All imams must receive their salaries from the UAE government.
Mohamed visited Pope Francis in 2016, and in February 2019, he welcomed Francis to the UAE, marking the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula. Pope Francis's arrival coincided with a conference entitled "Global Conference of Human Fraternity". The conference featured talks and workshops about how to foster religious tolerance. As part of this visit, Pope Francis held the first Papal Mass to be celebrated in the Arabian Peninsula at Zayed Sports City in which 180,000 worshippers from 100 countries, including 4,000 Muslims, were present.
Over the course of the last years, the UAE has seen the rise of the Indian population and Hindu advocacy. The government has allowed the building several privately-funded Hindu temples and the screening of the film The Kashmir Files.
Domestic policy
Authoritarianism
Political scientists have characterized Mohamed bin Zayed as the strongman leader of an authoritarian regime, as there are no free and fair elections, political and civil rights are limited, free speech is restricted, and there are no free and independent media.
Economic policy
Scholars have characterized the UAE under Mohamed bin Zayed's regime as a rentier state.
He previously served as the head of Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development (ADCED), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Mubadala Development Company, Tawazun Economic Council, and Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge.
In June 2018, Mohamed approved a three-year AED 50 billion stimulus package. He also commissioned a review of building regulations in an effort to galvanize urban development.
Mohamed is chairman of the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The council is the primary governing body of Abu Dhabi's financial, investment, economic, petroleum and natural resources affairs.
Military
Mohamed served as an officer in the Amiri Guard (now known as Presidential Guard), as a pilot in the UAE's Air Force, as commander of the UAE Air Force and Air Defense, and as deputy chief of staff of the Armed Forces. In 2005, he was appointed deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces and was accordingly promoted to lieutenant general.
In the early 1990s, Mohamed told Richard Clarke, then an assistant secretary of state, that he wanted to buy the F-16 fighter jet. Clarke replied that he must mean the F-16A, the model the Pentagon sold to American allies. Mohamed said that instead he wanted a newer model he had read about in Aviation Week, with an advanced radar-and-weapons system. Clarke told him that that model did not exist yet; the military had not done the necessary research and development. Mohamed said the UAE would pay for the research and development. The subsequent negotiations went on for years, and according to Clarke "he ended up with a better F-16 than the US Air Force had".
Mohamed made jujitsu compulsory in schools. In 2014, he established the military draft, conscripting young Emiratis to attend a year of boot camp, initially running a pilot project within his own family and making his own daughters run as the sample size by making them attend boot camp. He invited Maj. Gen. Mike Hindmarsh, the retired former head of Australia's Special Operations Command, to help reorganize the Emirati military. According to the New York Times, as a result of Mohamed's vision, the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces became the best equipped and trained military in the region apart from Israel. Under Mohamed's leadership, the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces also became commonly nicknamed as "Little Sparta" by United States Armed Forces General and former US defense secretary James Mattis as a result of their active and effective military role despite their small active personnel.
According to a 2020 study, Mohamed's reforms successfully increased the effectiveness of the UAE military.
Philanthropy
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..... The University of Texas chair for scientific and medical knowledge in cancer research is named after Mohamed as a result of a funding grant to MD Anderson Cancer Center. He organizes the Zayed Charity Marathon in New York City since its inauguration in 2005. The race raises awareness about kidney disease, and the proceeds go to the US's National Kidney Foundation.
Mohamed bin Zayed has been involved in setting up art museums, such as Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2017 and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in 2012, as well as cultural heritage sites such as Qasr Al Hosn.
Mohamed has been involved in efforts to protect wild falcons, bustards, and the Arabian oryx. He donated US$1 million to an initiative aimed at preventing the power line-related deaths of wild birds, as part of launching of the 20-million-dollar Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Foundation. He heads the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund.
A species of woodlizard — Enyalioides binzayedi — was named after Mohamed as the creator of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund that provided financial support to the expeditions leading to the discovery of the species in the Cordillera Azul National Park in Peru. In 2017, Acer binzayedii, a rare species of maple tree found in the mountainous cloud forest of Jalisco in Western Mexico, was named after him.
Personal life
Mohamed is married to Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan. They married in 1980. They have nine children together, four sons and five daughters. They have two adopted daughters, and together they have 21 grandchildren.
- Sheikha Mariam bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. She is married to Sheikh Mohammed bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan. The couple has two sons:
- Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 14 April 2011)
- Zayed bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 14 May 2014)
- Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan (born on 8 January 1982). He is married to Sheikha Fatima bint Suroor Al Nahyan since 2008 and they have three children:
- Shamma bint Khaled Al Nahyan (born 10 October 2011)
- Mohammed bin Khaled Al Nahyan (born 20 December 2013)
- Salama bint Khaled Al Nahyan (born 20 December 2013)
- Sheikha Shamsa bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (born on 18 June 1984). She is married to Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Nahyan. They have six children:
- Hessa bint Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 22 May 2003). She is married to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan.
- Zayed bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 29 December 2005)
- Salama bint Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 11 July 2007)
- Fatima bint Mohammed Al Nahyan
- Mohammed bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 24 July 2024)
- Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 24 July 2024)
- Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is married to Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan. They have three children:
- Fatima bint Theyab Al Nahyan (born 4 June 2014)
- Salama bint Theyab Al Nahyan (born 7 February 2016)
- Zayed bin Theyab Al Nahyan (born 7 May 2019)
- Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He married Sheikha Fakhra bint Khalifa Al Nahyan in 2021. They have one son:
- Mohammed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan (born 15 August 2022)
- Khalifa bin Hamdan Al Nahyan (born 29 February 2024)
- Sheikha Fatima bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 1989. She is married to Sheikh Nahyan bin Saif Al Nahyan. They have four children:
- Mohammed bin Nahyan Al Nahyan (born 20 November 2012)
- Saif bin Nahyan Al Nahyan (born 15 June 2014)
- Zayed bin Nahyan Al Nahyan (born 3 December 2018)
- Mariam bint Nahyan Al Nahyan (born 16 August 2023)
- Sheikha Shamma bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 1992. She is married to Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan. The couple has one son:
- Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan (born 17 May 2023)
- Sheikh Zayed bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born on October 24, 1995. Graduated from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in December 2020.
- Sheikha Hessa bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
- Amina - adopted daughter
- Salha - adopted daughter
A lifelong fan of falconry, Mohamed established the Mohamed bin Zayed Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School with the goal of promoting and sustaining the ancient tradition by teaching it to new generations of Emiratis. He himself learned the practice from his father.
Succession
Mohamed, in his capacity as ruler of Abu Dhabi, has issued an Emiri decree appointing his son Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan as the crown prince.
Honours
| Styles of Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan |
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| Reference style | His Highness |
| Spoken style | Your Highness |
| Alternative style | Ra'is (President) |
Brazil: Collar of the Order of the Southern Cross (12 November 2021)
France:
- Grand Cross of the National Order of Legion of Honour (18 July 2022)
- Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (15 February 2013)
Germany: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (29 October 2008)
Kosovo: Medal of the Order of Independence (21 April 2014)
Malaysia:
- Honorary Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (17 June 2011)
- Member of the Order of the Crown of the Realm (30 November 2023)
- Pahang: Member 1st Class of the Family Order of the Crown of Indra of Pahang (30 November 2023)
Montenegro: Grand Cross of the Order of the Montenegrin Grand Star (12 December 2013)
Morocco: Collar of the Order of Muhammad (17 March 2015)
Oman: Collar of the Order of Al-Said (27 September 2022)
Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (23 May 2008)
United Kingdom: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (25 November 2010)
Place named after him
Indonesia: In April 2021, the Jakarta–Cikampek Elevated Toll Road in Indonesia was renamed as Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Skyway (Jalan Layang Mohamed bin Zayed), at the behest of the Indonesian President's secretary.
See also
In Spanish: Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahayan para niños In Spanish: Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahayan para niños
