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French oil giant Total has signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Aramco to build a giant petrochemicals complex in Jubail, alongside the two companies’ existing Satorp efinery. Ownership of the Satorp joint venture is split between Aramco (62.5%) and Total (37.5%); the plant has 440,000 b/d capacity. The new petrochemicals project, entitled Amiral, is designed to exploit potential synergies and will have a mixed-feed steam cracker with a capacity of 1.5m t/yr of ethylene and other related high- value-add units.

Reports suggesting that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s illness could lead to a major internal power struggle within the next few weeks, if the rahbar (supreme leader) departed the political scene, were premature. Khamenei (born 17 July 1939 in Mashhad) left hospital on 15 September, one week after undergoing prostate surgery. He immediately spoke to state media – and made headlines worldwide – stating that in no way would Iran join the US-led coalition combating Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Reports that he had been suffering an aggressive form of prostate cancer seemed to have been much overstated.

In late March, the media arm of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Al-Malahim, posted a video online of a large gathering of AQAP leaders and members, a bold show of numbers and force which included Nasir Al-Wahayshi, who is the head of AQAP and widely seen as the Al-Qaeda number two. The video, entitled ‘First of the Heavy Rain’, is thought to have been shot in Marib province. It shows a reception for the 29 convicted members of AQAP who escaped from Sanaa Central Prison on 13 February, their prison break apparently the fulfilment, in part at least, of Al-Wahayshi’s August 2013 promise to release brothers imprisoned in Yemen, made around the time of mass prison breaks in Iraq, Pakistan and Libya.

King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz named Abdulaziz Saleh Al-Furaih as the new deputy governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama) on 20 July. Previously the deputy chief executive of Riyad Bank, Al-Furaih replaces Abdulrahman Al-Hamidy, who was appointed director-general and chairman of the board of the Arab Monetary Fund in March. At Sama, Al-Furaih reports to Fahad Al-Mubarak, who has been governor since December 2011. King Abdullah made a number of other appointments the same day, naming deputy minister of transport Abdelaziz Bin Abdelrahman Al-Ohaly as chief of the Public Transport Authority

As the rift between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Rahbar (Supreme Leader) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his supporters grows, one of the head of government’s apparently waning number of allies, foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi, faces impeachment over his controversial 19 June appointment of Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh as his deputy. Conservative politicians, and particularly the Intelligence Ministry headed by Heidar Moslehi – a close Khamenei ally who Ahmadinejad unsuccessfully attempted to remove in April – were infuriated by the Malekzadeh appointment, at a time when corruption charges were hanging over him.

Also attending the ambassadorial swearing-in ceremony (see above) was new envoy to Austria Prince Abdullah Bin Khalid Bin Sultan. Not yet a prominent figure, he was appointed advisor to the Royal Court in June 2017, so has been attending government meetings and travelling with King Salman Bin Abdelaziz (for example to Tunisia in late March). His elder brother Prince Faisal has been governor of Northern Borders province since April 2017. Their high-profile father Prince Khalid Bin Sultan was deputy defence minister (2011-13) and before that assistant defence minister.

Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani has been seen several times in the company of his father, former emir (1995-2013) Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani. Together they received well-wishers at Al-Wajba palace on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr. Alongside them were some of Sheikh Tamim’s brothers and uncles including the rarely seen Sheikh Abdelaziz Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad (Tamim’s elder full-brother and personal representative), Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa (former prime minister), Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa (former deputy prime minister) and Sheikh Jassim Bin Khalifa (younger half-brother of the father emir). Sheikh Tamim and his father also performed the Eid prayer together, alongside Qatari citizens.

Sweden sent special envoy Baron Bjorn von Sydow to Riyadh on 27 March, in an attempt to defuse the row sparked by foreign minister Margot Wallström’s criticism of the kingdom’s treatment of women and flogging of Raif Badawi. Saudi Arabia had withdrawn its ambassador, Ibrahim Bin Saad Al-Ibrahim, from Sweden, and said it would no longer issue business visas to Swedes, to the alarm of many in Stockholm.

Gulf Finance House (GFH)’s Tunis Financial Harbour scheme has made limited progress, but Paris-based newsletter Maghreb Confidentiel reports that it has applied to amend its agreement with the Tunisian state, signed with the previous Ben Ali regime in December 2007, to gain more land. The project centres on building a new business district 25km north of Tunis, along with residential and shopping zones and a golf course.

French defence minister Florence Parly has let slip that Paris is this month deploying “a robust package of advanced air defence warning”, including radars, to Saudi Arabia to counter low-altitude drone and cruise missile attacks of the type that struck Aramco refining facilities on 14 September. She made her comments in a statement to journalists on the fringes of the annual Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain.However, it was also clear from her comments that Parly had not been briefed on where exactly the gaps remained in the Saudi air defence system.

Parliament reconvenes: Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah reopened the National Assembly (parliament) on 30 October. The session was due to start with a grilling of prime minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, but the motion was withdrawn by MPs Mohammed Al-Mutair and Shuaib Al-Muwaizri the day before. In a further sign of compromise, the government has reinstated citizenship to a number of opposition figures and said it is willing to discuss the status of bidoon (stateless residents) later in the session.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is to merge the operations of Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (Adma-Opco) and Zakum Development Company (Zadco), in its latest effort to cut costs. Sultan Bin Ahmed Sultan Al-Jaber, minister of state and chief executive of Adnoc Group, announced the move on 4 October, describing it as “a logical step” given Adnoc’s recent focus on improving efficiency and profitability. The merger of the two upstream divisions should be completed by early 2018.

A long period of government stasis following a general election is nothing new for Iraq, as politicians haggle over which factions will feast off which portfolios. Adding to the delays in forming a government following the 12 May poll have been allegations of voter fraud which have exacerbated Arab/Turkmen and Kurdish tensions. Ballot papers have been lost and a partial recount was called, further reducing public confidence in an election which had anyway seen a record low turnout of 44.5%.

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani announced significant restructuring of several ministries on 20 February, as well as a shake-up of the supreme councils for health and education, in the biggest reorganisation since he set up his government in late June. The changes appear to follow through on the young emir’s promise to streamline the bureaucracy, and instil a culture of accountability. In his inaugural address to the nation on becoming emir, Sheikh Tamim said he would, at an appropriate time, “declare plans to restructure ministries to avoid duplication” and make lines of responsibility clear.

Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry said on 7 July it had arrested three brothers suspected of being linked to the 26 June suicide bombing in Kuwait carried out by the Islamic State extremist group. One of the three was arrested in Kuwait, and is in the process of being extradited. The second was arrested in Taif governorate, in the region of Mecca.