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Culture and Islamic guidance minister Ali Jannati on 12 May told the Islamic Republic News Agency (Irna) Iran was suspending its participation in the annual hajj pilgrimage. The decision to cancel – which Irna said was “tentatively confirmed” – followed Tehran’s strident criticism of Saudi management of the 2015 hajj, after a stampede last September killed at least 2,000 pilgrims, including 464 Iranians. Jannati said four months of negotiations had broken down.

The Canadian government has lifted a ban on new arms sales to Saudi Arabia and cleared the way for a hitherto secret C$14bn ($10bn) deal for light armoured vehicles (LAVs) made by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada.In a statement issued on 9 April, foreign affairs minister François-Philippe Champagne and finance minister Bill Morneau said a deal had been signed in 2014 between Riyadh and federal trade facilitation company the Canadian Commercial Corporation.

Securocrat’s nervousness at a deteriorating regional security situation was highlighted by reports that Saudi Arabia may place an order for extra Typhoon warplanes from BAE Systems. Saudi Arabia is anyway looking to develop its defence industry.

The Defense Security Co-operation Agency notified the US Congress on 22 August of a possible military sale to Saudi Arabia of follow-on support and services for Royal Saudi Air Force aircraft and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support worth around $1.2bn. Riyadh is seeking logistics support, communications support and personnel training, among other things.

The United States is continuing to support a number of border security initiatives in Yemen. The annual $300,000 State Department support for the US-installed Personal Identification Secure

Oil giant Saudi Aramco has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the local subsidiary of United States defence firm Raytheon to set up a company to develop cybersecurity services in the kingdom and around the region.

Yemen’s little-noticed southern unrest has finally gained some serious recognition with the 15 December publication of a Human Rights Watch report into the brutal reaction of state security services to the mostly peaceful southern protests. The report – In the Name of Unity: The Yemeni Government’s Brutal Response to Southern Movement Protests – documents the heavy-handed suppression of the Southern Movement (Al-Thawra Al-Janoubi) coalition.

Saudi-Qatar: Following several high-level meetings between Saudi Arabia and Qatar in mid-2008, both sides agreed to the delimitation of maritime borders between their countries and beyond the Khor Al-Udeid inlet (in the far south of Qatar). The minutes of the meeting of

Qatar has taken delivery of almost half of the 62 Leopard 2A7+ series main battle tanks it ordered from Krauss-Maffei Wegmann in 2013, IHS Janes reported. It is the first major export of heavy armour by KMW to the Middle East. The €1.9bn ($2.1bn) deal also includes artillery systems and reconnaissance vehicles.

Attention turned again to Yemen after Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) spokesman Nasser Bin Ali Al-Ansi claimed responsibility for the 7 January massacre at the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, in a video released on 14 January by AQAP’s media arm Al-Malahim. Ansi’s claim that AQAP had planned the “blessed battle of Paris”, as he referred to the attack that left 12 people dead, tallied with the claims of the two attackers, Chérif and Saïd Kouachi: Chérif made a similar claim in an interview with French television channel BFMTV, while he was under siege in Dammartin-en-Goële, where the brothers were killed on 9 January.

Defence minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan and his Chinese counterpart General Chang Wanquan signed an agreement to enhance military and defence co-operation in Tehran on 14 November. The deal covers training and sharing experience in combatting terrorism. According to the local Tasnim News Agency, Dehqan said an “upgrade in long-term military and defence co-operation with China” was a top priority for Tehran, while Wanquan stressed the need to fully implement past military agreements signed by the two countries.

US security assistance to Yemen has been patchy over the last half decade, reflecting the ebb and flow of the US-Yemeni relationship. All the usual tools of US security assistance

Kuwait has received approval from the United States State Department to buy 84 Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missile segment enhancements and related equipment at an estimated cost of $800m. Lockheed Martin Corporation is the main supplier. Approving the sales on 28 May, the State Department said it would help Kuwait to meet current and future threats, and provide greater security for oil and natural gas infrastructure. It added that the missiles’ acquisition will allow for integration with US forces for training exercises.

As it co-operates with the United States in the air campaign against Islamic State militants (see page 1), the UAE is also looking to buy another $3.4bn worth of military hardware from the US. The Pentagon has notified Congress of two possible military sales to the UAE. The first, announced on 26 September and worth $2.5bn, is for 4,569 refurbished and modified Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles (previously owned by the US Army) and associated equipment and support. The UAE says it wants the vehicles for force protection, humanitarian assistance operations and to protect trade routes and critical infrastructure; the main contractors would be Navistar Defense, BAE Systems and Oshkosh Defense.

A previously unknown branch of Islamic State (IS, or Daesh) claimed responsibility on 16 October for the murder of five and wounding of nine Shia worshippers at a mosque in the Saihat neighbourhood between Al-Qatif and Damman in Eastern Province’s main urban area. In an online statement, the so-called Bahrain Province group claimed it had sent gunman Shuja Al-Dosari to kill what it derogatorily called “rafida” (IS-speak for those who reject the Sunni way) as they completed their “polytheist rituals”, in reality Friday prayers. Bahrain Province is the third self-proclaimed branch of IS to emerge this year in the Arabian Peninsula.