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London-based Sweett Group has admitted to an offence under section 7 of the UK Bribery Act for conduct in the Middle East, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said in early December. Section 7 concerns the failure of a commercial organisation to prevent bribery. The SFO in July 2014 opened an investigation into Sweett’s activities in the UAE and elsewhere. Sweett notified the SFO in 2013 about an allegation of impropriety concerning the conduct of a former employee.

The BBC’s interview with Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR), broadcast on 13 January, nicely illustrated just how keen the UAE is to differentiate itself from the other Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states, and in particular Saudi Arabia, which for so long has sat atop the regional pecking order. The first, and most obvious, point of disjunction regarded Iran. Talking to Jon Sopel, MBR went so far as to say it was time to start lifting sanctions. “Give Iran space,” he said, sitting on a veranda at his desert home, to which he had driven the BBC correspondent in a 4x4 with number plate Dubai 1.

The sudden fuel price rises imposed overnight on 14/15 November which sparked a wave of protests that swept across Iran, and the brutal repression of those demonstrations, speak volumes about the character of a political system forged from the ruins of the Pahlavi regime in 1979 which soon evolved into the current velayat-e faqih (Rule of the Supreme Jurisprudent). The Islamic Revolution, and the subsequent eight-year war with Iraq, provided a crucible for institutions like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and bonyads (religious foundations) to develop networks and businesses that go far beyond their military or charitable core.

The suicide bombing of a mosque in Najran in late October is the fifth attack this year on a Saudi mosque by those who identify themselves as Islamic State (IS, or Daesh) and the first against the southern Ismaili community. The attack on 26 October killed two people; one of those killed was a 95-year-old man who blocked the bomber as he entered Al-Mashhad mosque in Najran city, preventing him from reaching the centre of the room. The attack comes amid growing fears of possible IS attacks on western interests in the kingdom.

A GCC exercise, Arabian Gulf Security 1, is to be held by end-year, following an agreement by the bloc’s interior ministers to enhance co-operation in dealing with regional security challenges, the official Bahrain News Agency reported. Further details of the exercise, announced by Bahrain’s Public Security chief Major General Tarak Bin Hassan Al-Hassan on 23 May, have yet to be revealed.

There has been no official news of Oman’s Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said since he flew to Germany on 9 July for an “annual vacation” and “medical examinations”, but multiple sources have told GSN that his condition is serious, and several have heard he has cancer, either of the pancreas or bowel. While the Gulf rumour mill often associates rulers’ medical trips to the West with either back problems or cancers of the lower gastrointestinal tract, the fact that 73-year-old Qaboos seemed to remain absent during Eid would appear to support the suggestion his health issues are of a serious nature.

Rarely short of a timely quote, President Barham Salih told a recent interviewer that “Iraq is coming back to the neighbourhood”. In promoting re-engagement with the Gulf and wider region, Salih was sharing a policy promoted by Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, to force Iraq out of its political and economic isolation to re-emerge as a studiedly neutral player (this time round) in regional diplomacy and commerce. While key elements of his administration remain blocked by domestic politicking (see Politics), Abdul-Mahdi has worked to reposition Iraq in the region.

The Ministry of Defence has awarded a $800m contract to Doha-based Generic Engineering Technologies (GET) to develop up to 169 buildings and other infrastructure facilities at a new naval base at Hamad Port, according to regional projects tracker MEED. Hamad Port opened to commercial traffic in December 2016. GET has previously worked on a number of projects to develop port facilities for the Qatari Coast Guard.

Ahead of its latest campaign against Islamic State, the Iraqi Air Force has secured US State Department approval to buy two Cessna AC-208 aircraft with Hellfire missile launcher capability, plus related training and support. The $65.3m deal’s approval was announced on 7 October.

Shekha Lubna: Palestinian visits

Some clarity is emerging as to how Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said will seek to shape Oman as he approaches his 100th day in office since the death on 10 January of Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said. The best guide to Haitham’s plans remains his televised speech on 23 February, at the end of official mourning. Clearly meant as the outline of a comprehensive strategic vision, the speech was all the more revealing because it was drafted and written by the sultan himself.

Interior minister Sheikh Jaber Khaled Al-Sabah’s 13 January resignation request has been accepted by Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, following allegations that a man was tortured to death while in police custody.

The discovery of a reserve of more than 80bn barrels of shale oil in shallow waters off the west coast of Bahrain, first revealed on 1 April along with some significant new gas finds, could hardly have come at a better time for the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region’s weakest economy. A few days earlier, the government had pulled a planned multi-tranche sovereign bond issue after being spooked by the high returns demanded by investors.

Ahmed Hamad Al-Gosaibi and Brothers (AHAB) is suing the former chief executive of Bahrain-based The International Banking Corporation (TIBC) for allegedly defrauding the company of $9.2bn

Head of state security General Abdelaziz Bin Mohammed Al-Howairini faces another challenging year at the helm of the Presidency of Public Security (PPS). Having been rehabilitated by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), Al-Howairini has the heavy task of protecting domestic security. This was challenging even before the assassination of Iranian military kingpin Qassem Soleimani, which drive reprisals on Saudi soil.