Saudi Crown Prince Makes Additional Donation of SR 10 Mln to Ehsan Platform

A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on November 12, 2020, shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attending a video meeting with the Shura council in the capital Riyadh. (AFP)
A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on November 12, 2020, shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attending a video meeting with the Shura council in the capital Riyadh. (AFP)
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Saudi Crown Prince Makes Additional Donation of SR 10 Mln to Ehsan Platform

A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on November 12, 2020, shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attending a video meeting with the Shura council in the capital Riyadh. (AFP)
A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on November 12, 2020, shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attending a video meeting with the Shura council in the capital Riyadh. (AFP)

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, has offered an additional donation of SR10 million to the National Platform for Charitable Work (Ehsan), as an extension of his previous donation to the platform during Ramadan and out of his keenness to support and empower the charitable sector.

With the new donation, the platform accumulated a total of one billion riyals (266.6 million dollars), which confirms the Kingdom’s support for the various fields covered by Ehsan – a model for social solidarity that reflects Saudi Arabia’s human values and wise leadership.

Ehsan is supervised by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), which has supported the platform technically since its launch five months ago. Its launch was initiated with SR30 million donation from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed.

In this regard, SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf al-Ghamdi said: “The success that the Ehsan platform has achieved in record time is a result of the Crown Prince’s continuous empowerment of all areas that serve the needy.”

“The platform is keen on continuing to achieve this mission through its services based on studying the needs of the charitable sector. Reaching one billion riyals of donations is the biggest catalyst for the platform to continue its work, which helped ensure speed, reliability and transparency for donors.”

Ehsan is the first national platform to receive this volume of donations in a record time, with the aim to bring about a qualitative leap for the donation process and increase its efficiency.

This is in line with Saudi Vision 2030, which sets among its objectives raising the contribution of the non-profit sector to the GDP.



French Ambassador to Saudi Arabia to Asharq Al-Awsat: Military Option Ineffective in Israel-Iran Conflict 

French Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Patrick Maisonnave. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
French Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Patrick Maisonnave. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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French Ambassador to Saudi Arabia to Asharq Al-Awsat: Military Option Ineffective in Israel-Iran Conflict 

French Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Patrick Maisonnave. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
French Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Patrick Maisonnave. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

French Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Patrick Maisonnave said Paris believes that military intervention will not resolve the “problem” over Iran’s nuclear program.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said such a solution was “ineffective” because it cannot completely eliminate Iran’s nuclear knowledge or ensure the complete destruction of all of its nuclear facilities.

Moreover, he warned against attempts to change the Iranian regime from the outside, saying it may have dire consequences, such as the collapse of the state, civil war, instability, regional conflicts, migration crises and raise terrorism threat levels.

This instability may also impact the security of the Gulf region and extend to Europe as well, he warned.

Damage to Iran’s nuclear sites may lead to dangerous radiation in the region that may spread to other regions, including Gulf waters, he went on to say.

Furthermore, military intervention will pose major dangers to regional stability, the security of France’s partners and allies in the region, and the Hormuz Strait. It may lead to attacks on American military bases and energy infrastructure, warned Maisonnave.

A diplomatic solution is the best way forward, he stressed, explaining that it will lead to a viable and permanent solution that enjoys international backing. This solution must tackle technical issues, such as enrichment levels. It also averts the grave consequences of military escalation.

A diplomatic solution must ensure that International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors are allowed to tour nuclear facilities at any time and without prior notice, he added.

This is the path that France chose in the past and that it believes is the best way to reach a permanent and peaceful solution, he stressed.

At the same time, the ambassador acknowledged that the Iranian nuclear program was a dangerous threat to French and European security interests, as well as to countries of the Gulf given its potential to destabilize the region and the “security of our allies”.

This concern deepened after IAEA inspectors were for years unable to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, he remarked.

France and European countries are very concerned that the program was not designed with purely civilian purposes, Maisonnave said.