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Prince Turki Bin Abdelaziz, a full brother of King Salman, died on 12 November. He was one of the seven sons of Hessa Bint Ahmed Al-Sudairi: Fahd, Sultan, Abdelrahman, Nayef, Turki, Salman and Ahmed. He was a deputy defence minister from 1969 to 1978, but lived in Cairo for many years and mintained a low profile. His wives were Nura Bint Abdullah Bin Abdelrahman and Hind Bint Shams Al-Din Al-Fassi. The high-spending Al-Fassi family became very rich through their connection to Prince Turki. Turki eventually returned home to Saudi Arabia for his brother Sultan’s funeral.

An Iranian Air Force F-7 crashed on 2 June close to the city of Hasanabad in Isfahan province, with officials at the Iranian Armed Forces Headquarters blaming technical failure. The pilot and co-pilot both ejected in time and there were no serious injuries reported. Pictures published in the local media showed the burnt-out carcass of the plane. It is one of a growing list of serious incidents involving Iranian air force planes.

The United States Navy aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis arrived in the Gulf region towards the end of 2018, after an eight-month period in which there was no US aircraft carrier in the area – the longest period for 20 years that there has been no US carrier presence. Residents of coastal areas of Muscat, Oman witnessed some very low-level, tea-spilling visits over the New Year period by the carrier’s complement of F18 fighter attack aircraft.

In an interview with GSN, AAOIFI secretary general Mohammed Al-Chaar talks about the Bahrain-based institution’s role, the latest developments and industry trends.

Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah made a two-day official visit to Italy in mid-September, accompanied by defence minister and first deputy premier Sheikh Khalid Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah, finance minister Anas Al-Saleh and oil minister Ali Al-Omair. Sheikh Jaber held talks with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Rome’s mayor, Ignazio Marino. Sheikh Khalid also held a meeting with his defence counterpart, Roberta Pinotti, at which they discussed a joint defence co-operation committee meeting due in Kuwait in October.

While Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) has been cutting back on its sales to Asian and other markets, in line with its Opec+ commitments (see box), an 87,000t Arab Light crude cargo was reserved for the Belarusian oil refinery OAO Naftan. The mid-May delivery of a first-ever purchase from Riyadh by Belarus will not have gone unnoticed by the reactionary former Soviet state’s closest ally, Russia.

While US President Donald Trump’s administration and his supporters in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Manama like to portray Iran as a devious, destabilising actor in the region, Iranian observers insist the Islamic Republic is merely looking after its interests in the same way that any other country would. “Iran is a rational and accountable actor in the region,” Allameh Tabatabai University (ATU – Tehran) professor Seyed Jalal Dehghani Firoozabadi told the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think-tank in London on 30 October.

Simon Eedle, the regional head of Crédit Agricole CIB, has left the bank, according to an email he wrote on 12 September.

US senators came close to scuppering a deal to sell $510m worth of precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia on 13 June, with 47 voting to block the deal and 53 voting in favour. The vote mostly went along partisan lines, although five Democrats voted to support the sale and four Republicans voted against. The vote is a worrying sign for Riyadh for two reasons: it is an indication that US politicians are running out of patience with the Saudi war effort in Yemen; and it is a sign that arms deals may yet fall victim to partisan politics in Washington.

The Abu Al-Abbas Battalion commander in Taiz, Adil Abduh Fari Uthman Al-Dhubhani (aka Abu Al-Abbas), was sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and Saudi Arabia on 25 October 2017 for his relations with Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and Islamic State (ISIS-Y). The former school teacher, who hails from Dhubhan in Al-Turba area, studied at the Salafi Institute in Dammaj, Sadah, founded by Sheikh Moqbil Al-Wadi, who died in 2002. He has been involved in anti-Houthi since the war began in 2015.

King Salman Bin Abdelaziz’s hospitalisation on 20 July showed the 84 year-old’s vulnerability, but also that the monarch since 2015 has lost none of the tough spirit that long made him the royal family ‘enforcer’ and mediator. Following the successful removal of his gallbladder, Salman chaired a cabinet meeting from hospital on 22 July, highlighting his legendary work ethic and allaying immediate concerns of his demise. However, by advertising the king’s frailties, the episode set Saudi-watchers once again to focusing on the succession. One school of thought has it that Salman’s infirmity might provide a credible excuse to justify his abdication – almost certainly in favour of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS).

Jockey Club chairman Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al-Faisal was appointed chairman of the Equestrian High Commission by a royal order issued on 19 July.

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani’s brother Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad was the focus of an eye-opening article in the Los Angeles Times on 16 July, which detailed his lavish lifestyle and some questionable financial arrangements during his time studying at the University of Southern California (USC).

Protesters have been returning to the streets of Iraqi cities in increasing numbers over the course of July, leading to a number of deaths and highlighting the fact that Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has yet to come up with any clear solution to the many governance, infrastructure and economic problems which have long plagued the country. 

Four Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) nationals were sentenced to life in jail, and one to ten years, by the Federal Supreme Court, after being found guilty of disseminating information “with an intent to ridicule and damage the reputation and prestige of the state symbols”, UAE state news agency Wam said on 18 May. Wam said the five had been accused of spreading data, rumours and pictures on Twitter and other websites; as well as prison sentences, they were given a Dh1m ($0.27m) fine.