Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (national security advisor)

On August 16, 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported about the administration led by US President Donald Trump of imposing several sanctions against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, targeting financial-support networks aiding the President from outside the country, to coerce Damascus into peace talks. According to financial records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Sheikh Tahnoun deposited about $200,000 into the bank accounts held by the niece of Syrian President Assad, Aniseh Shawkat, over a period of several years as her sponsor. The UK authorities seized several of these bank accounts in 2019, claiming that hundreds of thousands of dollars deposited in the accounts of Ms Aniseh helped circumvent European Union’s sanctions against the Syrian regime funds. Sheikh Tahnoun, Aniseh Shawkat and her attorney Zubair Ahmad did not respond when reached out for comment.[7]

The Central Intelligence Agency of the United States was condemned for spying all nations in the Arab world and Middle East region, except the UAE, despite the Gulf nation having hired former CIA officials for its Project Raven to spy on political targets, including several American in 2014. Sheikh Tahnoun was the Deputy National Security Advisor to UAE back then.[8]

Multiple ex-CIA officials have told Reuters that the agency does not gather "human intelligence" from UAE informant because it shares common enemies with the United States. Retired CIA official Norman Roule defended the US for not spying on the Emirates stating that the actions committed by Abu Dhabi have "contributed to the war on terror, particularly against al-Queda [Qaeda] in Yemen. " The foreign policy of UAE has been in control of the Sheikh Tahnoun's elder brother and Abu Dhabi crown prince, Mohammed bin Zayed, whose son, Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed heads the country's internal surveillance network.[9]