royal yacht al said

The Sultan of Oman is selling his magnificent 509-foot yacht. The vessel flaunts a palatial owner’s suite, saloon, and cinema. To keep the royal in the best of health it has a medical room, dental care room, and even a fully equipped operating room.

[ Superyachttimes ]

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A Closer Look at the $300 Million Superyacht Al Said

Have you ever wished that you could own your very own superyacht? Well, how about one that's the 7th longest yacht in the entire world and accommodates more guests and even many more professional crew members than almost all of the other yachts in the world ? In fact, you might not even have enough friends on earth to fill this massive yacht! And, all you have to be is a Sultan to be able to afford it! Then, you could travel the oceans of the world in comfort and luxury and never have to go back home and live the regular life! Hmm, we can certainly dream about the good life, can't we?

Built by Lurssen

According to Superyacht Times , the motor yacht Al Said was ordered in 2006 and then it was built by Lurssen . Her code name at that time was Project Sunflower during her construction. Once completed, she was named after her very wealthy owner. She's one of the largest superyachts in the world , especially when measured by volume. She accommodates an amazing 65 guests plus 140 crew members and was designed by world-renowned yacht designer, Espen Oeino. She's powered by two MTU marine engines that create a total of 22,000 horsepower for a cruising speed of 14 knots.

Delivered in 2008

The superyacht Al Said was delivered in 2008 to the Sultan of Oman. She replaced a smaller mega- yacht that, at one time, had the exact same name. At an amazing 155m, she has six exceptionally large decks and both her exterior and interior are quite striking. They were designed by Espen Oeino International. That's actually the same company responsible for the designing of the 127m mega-yacht called Octopus.

A Steel Hull & 25 Knots to Boot!

The Al Said sports a steel hull and an aluminum superstructure. She has a beam of 24m (78.74ft) and a draft of 5.20m (17.06ft). This is a superyacht that's capable of doing 25 knots flat-out and also has a cruising speed of 22 knots.

Lots of Guests & Crew

According to reports, this superyacht is capable of accommodating up to 70 guests and 154 professional crewmembers for ensuring the ultimate in relaxed luxury yacht experiences for all guests onboard. She also features a massive concert room that accommodates an entire 50-piece orchestra! Now, that's something you probably won't find on any other superyacht!

Based in Muscat

According to the Robb Report , the majority of the time, the Royal Yacht Al Said will be based in the Sultan Qaboos Port, which is near Muscat. When the royal yacht does travel anywhere, she does so with an escort and that escort is the Oman Navy. Now, how many yachts do you know of that have their own royal Navy escort?

About the Owner

The owner of the Royal Yacht Al Said is the Sultan of Oman (and all of its Dependencies) after rising to power by overthrowing his own father, Said bin Taimur during a 1970 palace coup. (What a nice guy, right?) He's also the 14th-generation descendant of the Al Bu Sa'idi dynasty's founder. Oman (aka the Sultanate of Oman) is, of course, an Arab country in the Middle East that lies on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula as well as on the Persian Gulf. As you may have already guessed, it's an absolute monarchy, which was once known as the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. It also once included portions of what is now the United Arab Emirates and certain parts of Pakistan. This also a country with very close ties to Saudi Arabia, often functioning as an impartial mediator between Saudi Arabia and countries like Qatar and Iran or Qatar. In addition, the country has a Royal Military Academy that is really highly-regarded.

The Sultan's full title is Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said and, he also owns eight palaces and three luxury yachts. Besides the Al Said, he also owns the Loalat al Behar and the Fulk al Salamah. The Loaloat Al Behar was the prior Al Said, which was a gift to the Ministry of Tourism of Oman and has been recently refitted and repainted. The Fulk Al Salamah Yacht functions as a support vessel for the Royal Yacht Al Said. She was built in Italy at the Mariotti shipyard and delivered in 2016. At 150 meter (492 ft) she's actually almost as big overall as the yacht Al Said and one of the largest superyachts worldwide.

Other Royal Toys

Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said is also the owner of a Boeing 747 private jumbo jet, (registration A4O-OMN), which was built in 2001. In addition, he owns another 747 that was built in 2012 (registration A4O-HMS). However, since it wasn't painted with the ‘royal colors’, he mainly uses his older jet.

Sultan of Oman- Net Worth

Sultan Qaboos al Said's net worth is estimated to be in excess of US$ 1 billion. (Not bad.)

Superyacht Al Said Specs

• Type: Motor Yacht
• Model: Custom
• Builder: Lurssen Yachts
• Naval Architect: Lurssen Yachts
• Exterior Designers: Espen Oeino
• Interior Designer: RWD
• Year Built: 2008
• Hull #: 13644
• Hull Color: White
• Length Overall: 155.00m (508'6"ft)
• Beam: 24.00m (78'8"ft)
• Maximum Draft: 5.20m (17'0"ft)
• Gross Tonnage: 15,850
• Accommodations-
• # of Guests: 70
• Crew accommodations: 154
• # of Cabins: 30 cabins total
• Construction-
• Hull Material: Steel
• Superstructure: Aluminum
• Decks #: Six
• Quantity: 2
• Fuel Type: Diesel
• Engines Manufacturer: MTU Marine Engines
• Power per engine: 10996hp / 8200kW
• Total Power: 21992hp / 16400kW
• Performance & Capabilities-
• Max Speed: 25.00 knots Cruising Speed: 22.00 knots

Not For Charter

This yacht is not for charter. However, if you would like to see this yacht's current location in real-time, just go to this site. That way, you could live vicariously thru the Sultan, his guests, and crew members. Sure, it would be better to be there but tracking its location just might have to suffice for today.

Written by  Garrett Parker

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Motor Yacht

Al Said is a 155m motor yacht which was custom built in 2008 by Lurssen Yachts in Bremen. This magnificent yacht features exterior styling by Espen Oeino, with interior design by Redman Whitely Dixon.

Like most royal superyachts, little is known about Al Said, a giant mega yacht formerly codenamed "Project Sunflower". She was delivered to the Sultan of Oman in 2008 as a replacement for a smaller mega yacht of the same name.

At a stunning 155m, Al Said consists of six large decks and features striking exterior and interior design by Espen Oeino International, the same company that designed the stunning 127m mega yacht Octopus. 

Al Said has a steel hull and aluminium superstructure with a beam of 24m (78.74ft) and a 5.20m (17.06ft) draft. The mega yacht is capable of 25 knots flat out, with a cruising speed of 22 knots.

According to reports, Al Said is said to accommodate as many as 70 guests and 154 professional crew, as well as featuring a concert room capable of accommodating a 50 piece orchestra. She is also capable of carrying up to 154 crew onboard to ensure a relaxed luxury yacht experience.  

• Yacht Builder Lurssen Yachts View profile
• Naval Architect Lurssen Yachts View profile
• Exterior Designer Espen Oeino View profile
• Interior Designer RWD No profile available

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Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman: 1940-2020

Leader who modernised his Arabian sultanate while balancing diplomatic links between Iran and US

Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who has died aged 79, lived to be the Middle East’s longest-ruling monarch after seizing power in a 1970 palace coup and pulled his Arabian sultanate into modernity while balancing diplomatic ties between adversaries Iran and the US.

The sultan was previously diagnosed with colon cancer. He was believed to have been in poor health in recent months and travelled to Belgium for a medical checkup in December.

The British-educated sultan reformed a nation that was home to only three schools and harsh laws banning electricity, radios, eyeglasses and even umbrellas when he took the throne. Under his reign Oman became known as a welcoming tourist destination and a key Middle East interlocutor, helping the US free captives in Iran and Yemen and even hosting visits by Israeli officials while pushing back on their occupation of land Palestinians want for a future state.

Unmarried when he died, Qaboos had no children and did not publicly name an heir, a tradition among the ruling al-Said dynasty whose history is replete with bloody takeovers.

The sultan had been believed to be ill for some time, though authorities never disclosed his illness. A December 2019 report by the Washington Institute for Near-East Policy described him as suffering from “diabetes and a history of colon cancer”. He spent eight months in a hospital in Germany, returning to Oman in 2015, with the royal court saying only that the treatment he received was successful.

Qaboos cut a fashionable figure in a region whose leaders are known for a more austere attire. His colourful turbans stood out, as did his form-fitting robes with a traditional curved khanjar knife stuck inside, the symbol of Oman. He occasionally wore a white turban out of his belief that he spiritually led Oman’s Ibadi Muslims, a more liberal offshoot of Islam predating the Sunni-Shia split.

His outward-looking worldview could not have contrasted more sharply with that of his father, Sultan Said bin Taimur, under whose rule the sultanate more resembled a medieval state. Slavery was legal, no one could travel abroad and music was banned. At the time Oman, nearly the size of Poland, had only six miles of paved roads.

Sultan Said let Qaboos, born in Salalah on 18 November 1940, travelled to study in England. The time abroad included schooling at Britain’s Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and training with the Scottish Rifles Regiment in what was then West Germany.

Qaboos returned to Salalah in 1964 but found himself instead locked away in a palace. Music cassettes sent to him from friends abroad included secret messages from the British. London was frustrated with Sultan Said, who had grown increasingly eccentric after surviving an assassination attempt and as Communist rebels kept up their offensive in the sultanate’s Dhofar region.

A palace coup on 23 July 1970 ended up with Sultan Said shooting himself in the foot before going into exile in London. Qaboos took power. “Yesterday, Oman was in darkness,” Qaboos said after the coup. “But tomorrow, a new dawn will rise for Oman and its people.”

Qaboos quickly moved toward modernising the country, building the schools, hospitals and roads his father didn’t. With the help of Iranian forces under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the British and Jordan, the sultan beat back the Dhofar rebellion.

Over time Qaboos introduced what amounted to a written constitution, created a parliament and granted citizens limited political freedoms – while retaining the final say. In a sign of his strong grip he also served as prime minister and minister of defence, finance and foreign affairs, as well as governor of the sultanate’s central bank.

Small protests broke out as part of the wider Arab Spring unrest in 2011, revealing discontent over corruption, unemployment and rising prices within the sultanate.

As he grew older, Qaboos also grew increasingly reclusive. He is known to have had three major passions – reading, music and yachting. He was said to “read voraciously”, as well as playing the organ and lute. He created a symphony orchestra and opened a royal opera house in Muscat in 2011. His yacht “Al Said” is among the world’s largest and was frequently seen anchored in Muscat’s mountain-ringed harbour.

Qaboos was briefly married to a first cousin. They had no children and divorced in 1979.

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Jon Gambrell, Associated Press Jon Gambrell, Associated Press

• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/sultan-qaboos-bin-said-who-modernized-oman-dies-at-79

Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who modernized Oman, dies at 79

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Mideast’s longest-ruling monarch who seized power in a 1970 palace coup and pulled his Arabian sultanate into modernity while carefully balancing diplomatic ties between adversaries Iran and the U.S., has died. He was 79.

The British-educated, reclusive sultan reformed a nation that was home to only three schools and harsh laws banning electricity, radios, eyeglasses and even umbrellas when he took the throne.

Under his reign, Oman became known as a welcoming tourist destination and a key Mideast interlocutor, helping the U.S. free captives in Iran and Yemen and even hosting visits by Israeli officials while pushing back on their occupation of land Palestinians want for a future state.

“We do not have any conflicts and we do not put fuel on the fire when our opinion does not agree with someone,” Sultan Qaboos told a Kuwaiti newspaper in a rare interview in 2008.

Oman’s state-run news agency announced his death early Saturday, but offered no cause. The royal court declared three days of mourning.

The sultan’s death had raised the risk of unrest in this country on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula. The unmarried Sultan Qaboos had no children and did not publicly name an heir, a tradition among the ruling Al Said dynasty whose history is replete with bloody takeovers. But within hours,  Oman state television announced Haitham bin Tariq Al Said , who had served as the sultanate’s culture minister, as the new sultan.

Oman’s longtime willingness to strike its own path frustrated Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, longtime foes of Iran who now dominate the politics of regional Gulf Arab nations. How Oman will respond to pressures both external and internal in a nation Sultan Qaboos absolutely ruled for decades remains in question.

“Maintaining this sort of equidistant type of relationship … is going to be put to the test,” said Gary A. Grappo, a former U.S. ambassador to Oman. “Whoever that person is is going to have an immensely, immensely difficult job. And overhanging all of that will be the sense that he’s not Qaboos because those are impossible shoes to fill.”

The sultan had been believed to be ill for some time, though authorities never disclosed what malady he faced. A December 2019 report by the Washington Institute for Near-East Policy described the sultan as suffering from “diabetes and a history of colon cancer.”

Sultan Qaboos spent eight months in a hospital in Germany, returning to Oman in 2015, with the royal court only saying that the treatment he received was successful. In December 2019, he traveled to Belgium for a week for what the court described as “medical checks.” Days of worry about his condition ended Dec. 31, 2019, with the royal court describing him to be in stable condition.

Mourners gather to pay their respects as Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said’s coffin is carried during the funeral procession in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020 in this still image taken from video. Oman TV/Reuters.

Sultan Qaboos cut a fashionable figure in a region whose leaders are known for a more austere attire. His colorful turbans stood out, as did his form-fitting robes with a traditional curved khanjar knife stuck inside, the symbol of Oman. He occasionally wore a white turban out of his belief that he spiritually led Oman’s Ibadi Muslims, a more liberal offshoot of Islam predating the Sunni-Shiite split.

The sultan’s willingness to stand apart was key to Oman’s influence in the region. While home only to some 4.6 million people and smaller oil reserves than its neighbors, Oman under Sultan Qaboos routinely influenced the region in ways others couldn’t.

Oman’s oil minister routinely criticizes the policies of the Saudi-led OPEC oil cartel with a smile. Muscat hosts meetings of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, locked in a yearslong bloody war with Saudi Arabia. When Americans or dual nationals with Western ties are detained in Iran or areas under Tehran’s influence, communiques that later announce their freedom routinely credit the help of Oman.

The sultan’s greatest diplomatic achievement came as Oman hosted secret talks between Iranian and U.S. diplomats that led to the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. The agreement, which limited Iran’s atomic program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions, has come unraveled since President Donald Trump withdrew from it in May 2018.

Even while mediating negotiations with Tehran, the sultan maintained ties to those in the Pahlavi dynasty that Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew.

Sultan Qaboos’ outward-looking worldview could not have contrasted more sharply than that of his father, Sultan Said bin Taimur, under whose rule the sultanate more resembled a medieval state. Slavery was legal, no one could travel abroad and music was banned. At the time, the country, which is nearly the size of Poland, had only 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) of paved roads.

Yet Sultan Said let his son Qaboos, born in Salalah on Nov. 18, 1940, travel to study in England. Qaboos’ time abroad included schooling at Britain’s Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and training with the Scottish Rifles Regiment in what was then West Germany.

Qaboos returned to Salalah in 1964 but found himself instead locked away in a palace. Music cassettes sent to him from friends abroad included secret messages from the British. London was frustrated with Sultan Said, who had grown increasingly eccentric after surviving an assassination attempt and as Communist rebels kept up their offensive in the sultanate’s Dhofar region.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets with Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said at Bait Al Baraka in Muscat, Oman, May 21, 2013. Photo by Jim Young/Reuters.

A July 23, 1970 palace coup ended up with Sultan Said shooting himself in the foot before going into exile in London. Qaboos took power.

“Yesterday, Oman was in darkness,” Sultan Qaboos said after the coup. “But tomorrow, a new dawn will rise for Oman and its people.”

Sultan Qaboos quickly moved toward modernizing the country, building the schools, hospitals and roads his father didn’t. With the help of Iranian forces under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the British and Jordan, the sultan beat back the Dhofar rebellion.

“You can see the sultan’s fingerprints,” Grappo said. “They’re just everywhere.”

Over time, Sultan Qaboos introduced what amounted to a written constitution, created a parliament and granted citizens limited political freedoms. But the sultan always had final say. In a sign of his strong grip, he also served as prime minister and minister of defense, finance and foreign affairs, as well as governor of the sultanate’s Central Bank.

“Holding all these positions in government probably sort of constrained his country in the sense of developing senior leadership,” Grappo said.

That strong grip extended to any sign of dissent. The Royal Oman Police often patrol in riot-ready vehicles with chicken wire covering the windows, something only seen in the island nation of Bahrain which has faced years of low-level unrest. U.S. diplomats routinely describe the Omani press as “muzzled” and even private outlets self-censor out of fear of running afoul of so-called “red lines.” All public gatherings require government permission.

Small protests broke out as part of the wider Arab Spring unrest in 2011, revealing discontent over corruption, unemployment and rising prices within the sultanate.

Oman was one of the few countries in the Arab world to maintain ties with Egypt after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, and acted as a mediator between Iran and Iraq during their ruinous eight-year war. It has also long served as a quiet base for U.S. military operations, including a failed 1980 attempt to free hostages held by Iran after the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran.

As he grew older, Sultan Qaboos also grew increasingly reclusive. He is known to have had three major passions — reading, music and yachting.

He “read voraciously,” Grappo said, played the organ and lute. He created a symphony orchestra and opened a royal opera house in Muscat in 2011. His yacht “Al Said” is among the world’s largest and was frequently seen anchored in Muscat’s mountain-ringed harbor.

Sultan Qaboos was briefly married to a first cousin. They had no children and divorced in 1979.

Associated Press writers Joseph Krauss and Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Adam Schreck in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Jon Gambrell, the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press, has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006.

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AL SAID 154m Royal Oman yacht built by Lürssen

• €250,000,000

Al Said is owned by Qaboos bin Said Al Said. He is the Sultan of Oman and its Dependencies. He rose to power after overthrowing his father, Said bin Taimur, in a palace coup in 1970. He is the 14th-generation descendant of the founder of the Al Bu Sa’idi dynasty. Motor yacht Al Said, built by Lurssen, was ordered in 2006. The yacht was code named Project Sunflower during its construction. It’s one of the world’s largest superyachts, especially measured by volume. The yacht can accommodate 65 guests and 140 crew members. Most of the time the Royal Yacht Al Said is based in the Sultan Qaboos Port, near Muscat. When she travels, she is escorted by the Oman Navy. Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said owns 8 palaces and three luxury yachts: Al Said, Fulk al Salamah and Loalat al Behar. Loaloat Al Behar was actually the previous Al Said, and was given as a gift to Oman’s Ministry of Tourism. She has been refitted and repainted

Name: AL SAID Year: 2008 Exterior: Espen Oeino Interior Espen Oeino Country: Oman Top speed: 25 Cruise speed: 22 Listing ID: 61

• Price: €250,000,000

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Yacht, IMO 9463774

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The current position of AL SAID is at Arabian Sea reported 20 days ago by AIS. The vessel AL SAID (IMO 9463774, MMSI 461001000) is a Yacht built in 2008 (16 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of Oman .

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Map position & weather, recent port calls, vessel particulars.

AL SAID current position and history of port calls are received by AIS. Technical specifications, tonnages and management details are derived from VesselFinder database. The data is for informational purposes only and VesselFinder is not responsible for the accuracy and reliability of AL SAID data.

Strange Glow Over Moscow Skies Triggers Panic as Explosions Reported

B right flashes lit up the night sky in southern Moscow in the early hours of Thursday morning, new footage appears to show, following reports of an explosion at an electrical substation on the outskirts of the city.

Video snippets circulating on Russian-language Telegram channels show a series of flashes on the horizon of a cloudy night sky, momentarily turning the sky a number of different colors. In a clip shared by Russian outlet MSK1.ru, smoke can be seen rising from a building during the flashes lighting up the scene.

Newsweek was unable to independently verify the details of the video clips, including when and where it was filmed. The Russian Ministry of Emergency situations has been contacted via email.

Several Russian Telegram accounts said early on Thursday that residents of southern Moscow reported an explosion and a fire breaking out at an electrical substation in the Leninsky district, southeast of central Moscow.

Local authorities in the Leninsky district told Russian outlet RBC that the explosion had happened in the village of Molokovo. "All vital facilities are operating as normal," Leninsky district officials told the outlet.

The incident at the substation in Molokovo took place just before 2 a.m. local time, MSK1.ru reported.

Messages published by the ASTRA Telegram account, run by independent Russian journalists, appear to show residents close to the substation panicking as they question the bright flashes in the sky. One local resident describes seeing the bright light before losing access to electricity, with another calling the incident a "nightmare."

More than 10 villages and towns in the southeast of Moscow lost access to electricity, the ASTRA Telegram account also reported. The town of Lytkarino to the southeast of Moscow, lost electricity, wrote the eastern European-based independent outlet, Meduza.

Outages were reported in the southern Domodedovo area of the city, according to another Russian outlet, as well as power failures in western Moscow. Electricity was then restored to the areas, the Strana.ua outlet reported.

The cause of the reported explosion is not known. A Telegram account aggregating news for the Lytkarino area described the incident as "an ordinary accident at a substation."

The MSK1.ru outlet quoted a local resident who speculated that a drone may have been responsible for the explosion, but no other Russian source reported this as a possible cause.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Moscow with long-range aerial drones in recent months, including a dramatic wave of strikes in late May.

On Sunday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the region's air defense systems had intercepted an aerial drone over the city of Elektrostal, to the east of Moscow. No damage or casualties were reported, he said.

The previous day, Russian air defenses detected and shot down another drone flying over the Bogorodsky district, northeast of central Moscow, Sobyanin said.

There is currently no evidence that an aerial drone was responsible for the reported overnight explosion at the electrical substation in southern Moscow.

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Kushner Developing Deals Overseas Even as His Father-in-Law Runs for President

Donald Trump’s son-in-law, who was also a senior White House official, said he was close to finalizing real estate projects in Albania and Serbia.

By Eric Lipton ,  Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman

Reporting from Washington

Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Donald J. Trump, confirmed on Friday that he was closing in on major real estate deals in Albania and Serbia, the latest example of the former president’s family doing business abroad even as Mr. Trump seeks to return to the White House.

Mr. Kushner’s plans in the Balkans appear to have come about in part through relationships built while Mr. Trump was in office. Mr. Kushner, who was a senior White House official, said he had been working on the deals with Richard Grenell, who served briefly as acting director of national intelligence under Mr. Trump and also as ambassador to Germany and special envoy to the Balkans.

One of the proposed projects would be the development of an island off the coast of Albania into a luxury tourist destination.

A second — with a planned luxury hotel and 1,500 residential units and a museum — is in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, at the site of the long-vacant former headquarters of the Yugoslav Army destroyed in 1999 by the NATO bombings, according to a member of Parliament in Serbia and Mr. Kushner’s company.

These first two projects both involve land now controlled by the governments, meaning a deal would have to be finalized with foreign governments.

A third project, also in Albania, would be built on the Zvërnec peninsula, a 1,000-acre coastal area in the south of Albania that is part of the resort community known as Vlorë, where several hotels and hundreds of villas would be built, according to the plan.

Mr. Kushner’s participation would be through his investment firm, Affinity Partners, which has $2 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, among other foreign investors. In a statement, an official with Affinity Partners said it had not been determined whether the Saudi funds might be a part of any project Mr. Kushner is considering in the Balkans.

“We are very excited,” Mr. Kushner said in an interview. “We have not finalized these deals, so they might not happen, but we have been working hard and are pretty close.”

Mr. Kushner set up his investment company after he left his White House job as a senior adviser. He capitalized on relationships he had built in government negotiating in the Middle East, which included a close relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Kushner ended up securing the $2 billion from the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia and hundreds of millions of dollars more from wealth funds in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar . He has taken few public steps so far to actually invest large chunks of this money.

Mr. Grenell also made valuable connections while in government, including some that appear to have given the Kushner team an inside track for investments in the Balkans. During his time in the Trump administration, Mr. Grenell worked on resolving disputes between Serbia and Kosovo.

These discussions indirectly involved Albania, as most citizens of Kosovo are ethnic Albanians and Albania plays a role in the regional discussions.

Mr. Grenell has remained close with Mr. Trump since the former president left office, defending him publicly and speaking to him regularly.

Mr. Grenell has said privately that he hopes to be secretary of state in a second Trump administration, according to a person who has discussed the matter with Mr. Grenell and who described the conversations on the condition of anonymity.

Mr. Grenell, in an interview, declined to address on the record any interest in potentially taking a post as secretary of state. He said only that he had not decided whether he would join any future Trump administration.

Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, which tracked business deals it considered conflicts of interest during the Trump administration, said these planned deals were unethical and would only raise new questions about the Trump family, particularly if Mr. Trump was re-elected.

“At this point in the election cycle Jared Kushner should freeze any new investment plans,” Mr. Weissman said. “This particular investment plan seems to involve the worst of every corrupt tendency of the Trump administration and Trump family.”

The Trump family’s involvement in foreign business deals became a major focus during Mr. Trump’s term, with critics ultimately suing and alleging that the family was illegally profiting from foreign payments — referred to as emoluments in the Constitution — while Mr. Trump was in office. These cases were dismissed as moot by the Supreme Court when Mr. Trump left office, but they could be reopened if he was back in the White House.

Since leaving office, Mr. Trump has become a partner in a development project in Oman , a deal he was brought into by a Saudi real estate firm that has ties to the Saudi government.

Mr. Kushner rejected any suggestion that he was getting preferential treatment because of his time in the government, or that any of the work was connected to the former president.

“No one is ‘giving’ me deals,” said Mr. Kushner, who insisted he was not planning to return to Washington should his father-in-law win the presidency again. “I operate fairly meticulously, and these investments will create a lot of value for the local communities, our partners and our investors.”

Representatives for Mr. Trump did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment.

Mr. Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, have largely stayed away from Mr. Trump’s political activities since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The New York Times first approached Mr. Kushner on Wednesday morning about his prospective projects in the Balkans. He initially declined to answer questions, responding only after he disclosed his plans to Bloomberg News on Friday.

Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump visited Albania twice since Mr. Trump left office. They traveled the country with Mr. Grenell, and even met with Albania’s prime minister .

Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump, along with Mr. Grenell, have been focused in part on Sazan, a Mediterranean island in the south of Albania that until the end of the Cold War had been used by the Soviet Union and the Communist-led government of Albania as a secretive military base for submarines. The plan is to build a luxury hotel and villas on the island.

The rugged two-square-mile island has hundreds of Cold War-era bunkers and tunnels designed to withstand nuclear attack and has been largely vacant since the end of the Soviet Union. But it is only a half-hour by speedboat from Vlorë, a resort destination in southern Albania where the government of Saudi Arabia is already spending money to improve electricity service and other public utilities to help promote tourism in Albania.

Mr. Grenell, a former Fox News contributor and media consultant, has been working closely with Mr. Kushner and his investment firm.

Mr. Grenell has been vocal about his efforts to turn relationships he built in Albania and elsewhere in the Balkans into personal profits. He has returned to the region repeatedly and met with hotel industry executives, as well as Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama.

“We are looking for opportunities to invest through foreign investment in the Balkans, but more specifically in Albania, and the Albanian coast is wonderful,” Mr. Grenell said in one of a series of television and newspaper interviews he has done in Albania in the last three years.

The day-to-day management of the projects would be handled by Asher Abehsera, a California-based real estate developer who has done projects in Brooklyn with Mr. Kushner, and who traveled to the Balkans with Mr. Grenell and Mr. Kushner to check out the development sites, Mr. Kushner said.

Mr. Grenell added in a nearly 90-minute television interview in Albania last year that there was nothing wrong with his deal making because he was now out of government. “I’m working on projects, private equity projects, that I get to make money on,” he said. “No one should ever apologize for wanting to make money.”

Last July, Mr. Grenell, along with Ivanka Trump and Mr. Kushner, also met with Mr. Rama in Tirana, the capital of Albania, and they were all photographed together.

Mr. Rama has been pushing for nearly a decade to open Sazan up to redevelopment as a tourist destination, as well as looking for other ways to attract foreign investors to Albania to expand its tourist economy.

Auron Tare, a former member of Parliament in Albania who has served as an adviser to Mr. Rama, took Ms. Trump and Mr. Kushner to Sazan Island in 2021 as part of a visit of Albania that included a cruise on a yacht and a helicopter trip across the coast.

Mr. Tare, in an interview, said he discussed with Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump the desire to develop Sazan, but to do so in a way that would preserve its history and environment.

Mr. Kushner and Mr. Grenell have been working closely with a billionaire Albanian business executive named Shefqet Kastrati and his son, Musa Kastrati. Their investments include a concession to run the international airport in Tirana, a chain of gas stations in Albania and hotels and other businesses, according to business associates and Mr. Kushner.

“They have helped us understand the cost of construction and how to operate locally,” Mr. Kushner said in an interview.

In October 2022, Shefqet Kastrati bought a $7.5 million house in Indian Creek, Fla., land records show, a property that is near where Ms. Trump and Mr. Kushner now live. The Kastrati family also last year purchased a hotel in the Brickell section of Miami for $55 million from the Qatari royal family.

Musa Kastrati, in an interview, said that the role his family company would play in Mr. Kushner’s Albanian projects was still not clear, but that it would probably involve helping build some of the complexes. Mr. Kastrati also confirmed that he visited Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s Florida resort and residence, in December 2022 with Mr. Grenell and that he also briefly met Mr. Trump when the former president arrived as they were having dinner. Mr. Kastrati said he did not discuss the potential deal with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Grenell has repeatedly taken to Instagram and other social media accounts to promote tourism in Albania and to praise Mr. Rama, the prime minister.

“I support Rama’s vision for the Balkans,” Mr. Grenell said in a television interview in 2021 , after he met with another hotel industry executive in Albania named Irfan Hysenbelliu. “I love Albania and I invite U.S. investors in the country.”

The government of Saudi Arabia recently announced that it was looking for ways to increase its investment in Albania, first by helping build water, electricity and sewer services next to beach areas in Vlorë, which is the launching point to Sazan and where a new international airport is already being built. It has said it wants to invest up to $300 million in the nation .

Earlier this month, Saudi officials traveled to Albania to announce the creation of what they are calling the Saudi-Albania Business Council “to forge a new economic partnership between the two countries,” including in tourist projects. The Saudi chairman of the group, Abdulrahman Al-Mufarreh, did not respond to requests for comment.

Michael S. Schmidt contributed reporting.

Eric Lipton is an investigative reporter, who digs into a broad range of topics from Pentagon spending to toxic chemicals. More about Eric Lipton

Jonathan Swan is a political reporter covering the 2024 presidential election and Donald Trump’s campaign. More about Jonathan Swan

Maggie Haberman is a senior political correspondent reporting on the 2024 presidential campaign, down ballot races across the country and the investigations into former President Donald J. Trump. More about Maggie Haberman

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Drone flying toward Moscow downed in Elektrostal

MOSCOW, November 19. A drone flying to Moscow has been downed by air defense systems in Elektrostal in the Moscow Region, no one was hurt, Moscow’s Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Sunday.

"In the Elektrostal municipal district, air defense forces repelled an attack by a drone, which was flying toward Moscow. According to preliminary data, its fragments fell down incurring no damage. No one was hurt," he wrote on his Telegram channel .

According to the Moscow mayor, emergencies services are working on the site.