# The Rashid family

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The Rashid family," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-rashid-family/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The dynasty that controlled the Arabian peninsula before the House of Saud, and John Kiriakou's account of meeting one of its descendants while stationed in Saudi Arabia — a man who told him the kingdom had once been theirs.*

- **Position:** Controlled the peninsula before the Al Saud
- **Kiriakou's contact:** A family member met while stationed in Saudi Arabia
- **His remark:** "This used to be our kingdom"

Among the things Kiriakou says he learned from his own reading on the Arabian peninsula, and later confirmed in person, is that the House of Saud was not the peninsula's first ruling family.

## What the books said

Kiriakou describes working through the history of Saudi Arabia — "that tome that is the full, the complete history of Saudi Arabia" — and finding something he had not known: "I didn't know that the Rashid family controlled the peninsula before the Saud family, and then they fought this fight." [1]

The detail sat alongside the other material he says drew him to the region in the first place: dynastic succession, the history of the Bedouins, and the creation of the Trucial States and their becoming the United Arab Emirates. [1]

## Meeting a Rashid

The encounter came later, when Kiriakou was posted to Saudi Arabia and met a member of the family. He raised the history with him directly, and records the reply: "Yeah, imagine how I feel. This used to be our kingdom, and now look at us. We work for them. We have nothing." [2]

Kiriakou offers the exchange as an example of what he found compelling about the region rather than as a political point. "It was just fascinating to me. I loved the history," he says, along with "the mathematical construct of the language" and the poetry. [2]

## See also

- [The Penn State Textbooks](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-penn-state-textbooks)
- [The Emir Of Bahrains Verdict](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-emir-of-bahrains-verdict)
- [Bahrain Posting (1994–1996)](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/bahrain-1994-1996-posting)

## Sources

1. JAILED for Exposing CIA Secrets: John Kiriakou (2025-07-21), at 10:52. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q5cbp6C4CU&t=652s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-21-capital-and-coast-jailed-for-exposing-cia-secrets-john-kiriakou/
2. JAILED for Exposing CIA Secrets: John Kiriakou (2025-07-21), at 11:22. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q5cbp6C4CU&t=682s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-21-capital-and-coast-jailed-for-exposing-cia-secrets-john-kiriakou/

---

From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-rashid-family/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt