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3A former associate and financial advisor of imprisoned Prince Salman Bin Abdelaziz Bin Salman has hired Washington DC-based Sonoran Policy Group to lobby for his release with the governments of the US, UK, France and other European Union countries, in a $2m contract. Prince Salman was detained in January 2018, according to several reports – although they differ on the reason why. The kingdom’s attorney general said at the time 11 princes had been arrested for staging a palace sit-in over a royal order halting payments to Al-Saud members for their utility bills.

According to the ScienceDaily.com website, Prince Abdelrahman, son of Prince Bandar Bin Abdulaziz (GSN 820/7), is carrying out research at Queen’s University.

The former vice-president of defence contractor IAP Worldwide Services, which was fined $7.1m in June for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) offences, has been jailed for 120 days by a Virginia court. James Michael Rama pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions. According to the US Department of Justice, IAP and Rama conspired to ensure that IAP would be the consultant on phase one (planning and feasibility) of the Ministry of Interior’s Kuwait Security Programme, intended to provide surveillance capabilities for government agencies, in order to tailor requirements for phase two – installation – contracts. Revenues from the phase two contract were expected to be substantially greater than from phase one.

The Council of Ministers (cabinet) has approved a plan to loosen restrictions on expatriate visas in an effort to attract more international investment into the kingdom. The new ‘green card’ permits will be offered without the need for a local sponsor; those granted a new residency permit will be allowed to allocate visas for family members and to own real estate in the country. There will be two types of permit: one offering permanent residency and the other renewable on an annual basis.

Sanctions take effect: US sanctions are again having a marked impact on the economy, with inflation rising and the rial under pressure in foreign exchange markets. This is reflected in the political arena, where hardliners are mounting a sustained campaign against President Hassan Rouhani and his team. Economic affairs and finance minister Massoud Karbasian and co-operatives, labour and social welfare minister Ali Rabiei were voted out of office by MPs in August. However, Rouhani has been responding.

The Saudi government has been urged to push forward with moves to lift a ban on sports in girls’ state schools, after the shura council on 8 April recommended an end to the ban, which was relaxed in private schools last year, state media reported. It is now up to the education ministry to decide whether to lift the ban. Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the government to “set out a clear strategy and accelerated timeline for rolling out physical education for girls in public and private schools” and demanded that the kingdom start licensing women’s gyms and facilitate the participation of women in all sports.

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum’s daughters, Sheikha Latifa; Yorkshire press; purchase of champion Arab gelding

Governments in the Middle East increased their defence spending by 6.2% in 2017, according to the latest analysis of expenditure trends by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), released on 2 May. Saudi Arabia continues to overshadow other countries in the region, with an outlay last year of $69.4bn, up 9.2% on 2016. Worldwide, total military expenditure was $1.74trn in 2017, an increase of 1.1% in real terms from 2016 and equivalent to 2.2% of global GDP.

Despite international condemnation, continued street protests and sanctions, combined with escalating economic problems, Bashar Al-Assad’s government has dug in as the Syrian uprising pushes on into its sixth month. But the signs are that Assad’s hold on power is tenuous and Gulf states have revised their policies as a consequence

The past month has seen the Syrian government busy with meetings with Jordan, Saudi Arabia and US officials - meetings that could help bring Syria back in from the cold. In early March, US envoys Jeffrey Feltman and Daniel Shapiro were in Damascus for talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem and President Bashar Al-Assad's advisor .....

Members of the Saudi-led Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC), the body set up at the behest of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in December 2015, held their inaugural council meeting in Riyadh on 3 March.

In a widely-expected move, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced on 22 June that this year’s Hajj – which is due to start in late July – will be restricted to “a very limited number of pilgrims” due to the risk presented by the coronavirus pandemic. The precise number of devotees who will be allowed to perform the week-long pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina has not been announced, but there have been suggestions the figure may be as low as 1,000 people.

Qatar has been involved in securing the release of 45-year-old US journalist Peter Theo Curtis, who was being held by Jabhat Al-Nusra, which captured him in Syria. His release after two years came just days after the gruesome murder of US journalist James Foley, who was also captured in Syria in 2012 and ended up in the hands of the Islamic State extremist group (see View). Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar has also claimed Qatar is involved in negotiations with Jabhat Al-Nusra to secure the release of Lebanese soldiers captured during fighting in the Lebanese town of Ersal.

Energy, industry and mineral resources minister Khalid Al-Falih has claimed that “large quantities” of natural gas have been discovered in the Red Sea. However, he did not give any specific details of how much natural gas has been found. Saudi Aramco has natural gas reserves of around 320 tcf and has been pushing to develop its position in the international gas market, not least through potential investments in liquified natural gas projects in the US.

From the evaporation of lakes and rivers to the extinction of rare species in its ravaged forests, the extent of environmental damage in Iran could, if left unchecked, pose a threat to the country arguably greater than that of any external adversary. Problems are particularly severe in urban areas, where vehicle emissions and industrial pollution are causing thousands of deaths from respiratory and heart disease each year. The capital Tehran, where 4.2m cars a day pump exhaust fumes into the haze above the city, bears most of the toll; in 2013, the health ministry said that more than 4,500 residents of the city of almost 9m had died as a result of air pollution that year.