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Iran launched missiles and drones at targets in Iraq, Syria and Pakistan in mid-January, claiming it was striking back at terrorist groups and Israel-linked sites, in a tough approach that has been accompanied by a domestic clampdown on moderate politicians ahead of elections in March. This suggests the regime continues to feel vulnerable to opposition at home, while speculation builds around the eventual succession to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the subject of the first of a series of GSN profiles.

UAE state minister for foreign affairs Sheikh Shakhbut Bin Nahyan Al-Nahyan has been on another African tour in January, visiting the capitals of Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, as well as Angola’s Cabinda province, as the UAE look to continue recent momentum for investments and wider engagement in Africa.

In a rare inward investment into Yemen, Oman’s Salalah Mills is paying $6.5m for a 50% stake in a grain mills and silos business in Mukalla, Hadhramaut government, which it will run with an unnamed Yemeni partner.

The latest phase of tensions in Hadhramaut involves UAE-backed factions competing with groups linked to Saudi Arabia.

Revised January 2024, this map of Yemen illustrates the extent of Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping between 19 November 2023 and 22 January 2024 as well as US and UK airstrikes on Houthi targets since 12 January 2024. Attack sites and airstrikes are marked on the map, with a text panel providing a brief note on each incident. The base Yemen map is shaded to show areas of control by each faction in the war (September/October 2023), with the main areas of conflict marked. The map also shows the location of key infrastructure including roads, airports, oil, and gas fields, pipelines, refineries, oil tanker terminals and gas processing facilities.

Revised January 2024, this map illustrates Iraq's oil and gas infrastructure and governorate populations and governors.  The locations of onshore and offshore oil and gas fields and pipelines are marked alongside associated infrastructure including oil refineries, gas processing plants, tanker terminals and LNG facilities. The map is available as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.

The US and UK have announced sanctions on four senior Houthi figures linked to the campaign against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. GSN’s latest map of the Yemen/Red Sea conflict zone shows a conflict zone where more than 30 ships have been targeted by Houthi missiles and drones since mid-November, forcing hundreds more vessels to divert around the southern tip of Africa – adding costs and delays to global trade.

The European Union has sanctioned two UAE-based companies over commercial and military ties to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, while a leaked United Nations expert report says evidence of UAE arms supplies to the rebel RSF are ‘credible’.

The deal by which Edge Group is acquiring International Golden Group brings two of the UAE’s biggest defence equipment suppliers together under one roof.

Edge is to use its extensive surveillance technologies for a six-month anti-crime initiative in São Paulo; the very active UAE state-owned defence conglomerate has also agreed a tie-up with Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar.

The second former US Navy frigate to join the Royal Bahrain Naval Force has arrived in Manama.

Former Asir governor Prince Faisal Bin Khalid Bin Abdelaziz has purchased an unspecified stake in White Abarrio, ahead of the champion racehorse’s appearance in the $20m Saudi Cup on 24 February.

Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said sailed to Khasab port in the isolated Musandam peninsula in mid-January for a meet-the-people tour and to inspect economic developments, directing local officials to push ahead with further housing and commercial projects.

Former finance minister Ali Sherif Al-Emadi has been fined almost $17bn and given a 20-year sentence by a Qatari court for money laundering and other charges. The court also sentenced Sheikh Nawaf Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani to six years in prison and fined him $227m for misuse of public funds.

A five-year contract for Bahrain Steel to supply Emirates Steel Arkan with iron ore pellets appears to be motivated by both commercial and geopolitical considerations, with the Abu Dhabi government-owned steel-maker saying it was designed to “strengthen economic ties within the GCC”.