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Former Qatari prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jaber Al-Thani (HBJ) had some critical words for Qatar’s neighbours in a series of tweets on 6 June, the day after the fourth anniversary of the start of the boycott by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in 2017, which only ended in January.

Qatar Olympic Committee president Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani was given the International Swimming Federation (Fina)’s highest honour, the Fina Order, at the organisation’s general congress in Doha on 6 June.

The Saudi Season of entertainment events is expected to return in Q4 21, as a popular element in the kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan. The programme will begin with the return of Riyadh Season, an amalgam of events, arts and cultural activities in the capital.

Regional rivalries are not necessarily forever – they may dissolve into historic rapprochements, which is how senior diplomats in the Gulf would probably prefer to interpret recent political and diplomatic manoeuvres involving Qatar, the UAE and Egypt in East Africa.

Just 28.75m people voted in the 18 June election, representing a turnout of just 48.5%. It was the first time in the Islamic Republic’s history that a minority of voters took part in a presidential election. The previous record low was set in 1993, when 51% of eligible voters cast a ballot in an election which ushered in a second term for President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has signed an agreement with India’s Reliance Industries to develop a world-scale chloralkali (used in water treatment and the manufacture of textiles and metals), ethylene dichloride and PVC production facility at Ruwais.

The recently-established North American Camel Ranches Owners Association has thanked International Camel Organisation founder and president Sheikh Fahd Bin Falah Bin Hithlain for his help in setting up the new group. Sheikh Fahd is thought to be a second cousin of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) via MBS’s mother Fahda Bint Falah Al-Hathlain.

 The Ramlat Khelah border crossing could prove a significant development. Customs and immigration facilities and a road linking the frontier to the Omani highway network at Ibri have been ready for some time. However, delays have been caused on the Saudi side by the technical difficulties of building a road through the Empty Quarter’s shifting sands. As of 7 July, the road on the Saudi side appears to have been completed, albeit buried in sand on some sections, but tarmac has not yet been laid on a 300-metre stretch straddling the border.

The Kuwaiti government continues to crack down on dissenting voices, amid the political crisis in which Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is absent and MPs continue to clash with the executive. The latest episode came when prominent Kuwaiti poet and businessman Jamal Al-Sayer was detained on 5 July over comments he had made on his widely-followed Twitter account.

Lebanon’s Hizbollah has embarked on a more assertive stance towards the Gulf states, targeting the UAE and Bahrain over their normalisation with Israel. The Iran-backed group has been using Lebanon’s laws criminalising contact with Israelis (including Israeli companies) to attack the Abraham Accords signed between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel in 2020.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran – also known as the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) – began its annual conference on 10 July, drawing a crowded line-up of international speakers. While many critics now view the MEK as little more than an Albanian-based violent cult led by Maryam Rajavi, its online event attracted contributors including former United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who argued the Trump administration’s policy of sanctions and “maximum pressure” against Tehran should continue.

Deputy foreign minister for international and legal affairs Mohsen Baharvand took over as Iran’s ambassador to London on 6 July.

Gulf allies were in attendance to watch Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi inaugurate the 3 July Naval Base at Ras Gargoub, 140km east of the Egypt-Libya border on July.

The United States State Department on 1 July approved a request from Kuwait to buy $445m worth of heavy tactical vehicles, along with support, spare parts and related equipment. The order covers 517 vehicles including 100 fuel tanker trucks and 188 guided missile transporter trucks to perform resupply missions.

Defence minister Prince Khalid Bin Salman (KBS) Bin Abdelaziz was in Washington in early July for an extensive series of meetings with all the key figures from the Biden administration.