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Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is severely restricting the contacts staffers and volunteers maintain with foreign officials, “to avoid even the perception of outside interference with this year’s election,” the Politico website reported on 23 June. Senior Biden adviser Antony Blinken said this was due to the “poisonous environment” created by President Donald Trump. However, Politico observed “it could be a tough policy to enforce given that the Biden campaign’s foreign policy apparatus has expanded to more than 1,000 people and that foreign governments are increasingly eager to establish connections with the campaign.”

Qatar and France have signed a declaration of intent to establish a strategic dialogue, following talks between deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and France’s Europe and foreign affairs minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Doha on 11 February. The agreement covers a broad range of areas including defence and security, health, education, culture, sports, economy, investment, and combating terrorism. Le Drian said there would be further discussions on regional issues including Libya, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is trying to reduce tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, apparently with encouragement from Washington, with a round of shuttle diplomacy. Khan travelled to Tehran on 13 October for talks with President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader (Rahbar) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in what was his second visit to Iran this year; Khan had also held bilateral talks with Rouhani in New York in September, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

The fifth European Union-League of Arab States ministerial meeting was held in Brussels on 4 February, in preparation for the first EU-Arab League summit which is due to take place on 24-25 February in Egypt. Among those attending the discussions were Kuwaiti foreign affairs minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Oman’s minister responsible for foreign affairs Yousef bin Alawi Bin Abdullah, Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs Adel Al-Jubeir and Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs Sultan Bin Saad Al-Muraikhi.

Foreign affairs minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani has held extensive talks with South-east Asian leaders in the region and back in Doha. On 28-29 August he met Singapore’s President HalimahYacob, foreign affairs minister Vivian Balakrishnan, finance minister Heng Swee Keat,Temasek sovereign wealth fund chief executive Ho Ching and co-ordinating senior minister for national security Teo Chee Hean. From Singapore he travelled to Bangkok, where he held discussions with Prime Minster Prayut Chan-o-cha, foreign affairs minister Don Pramudwinai and deputy prime minister Somkid Jatusripitak.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation began a two-day council of foreign ministers in Abu Dhabi on 1 March, with India’s external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj invited along as a guest of honour. She held talks with a number of her Gulf counterparts, including Bahrain’s Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa and the UAE’s Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

Protesters attacked the Iranian consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf on 28 November, in what is at least the third major incident involving diplomatic premises in Iraq this year – it follows the storming of the Bahrain embassy in Baghdad in June and a less serious incident at the Iranian consulate in Karbala in early November. Iraq’s foreign minister Mohamad Al-Hakim spoke to his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on the phone the same day to apologise for the incident.

Former British diplomat Carne Ross is stepping down in June as executive director of the consultancy he created, Independent Diplomat (ID). He is being replaced by ID’s policy director Reza Afshar, who formerly led Syria policy at the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In a LinkedIn post, Ross said “I will stay on as a part-time adviser for a further year”.

Swedish authorities have arrested Iranian public prosecutor Hamid Nouri, accusing him of involvement in the notorious mass executions of political prisoners in Iran in 1988 when thousands of detainees were killed. Nouri was reportedly arrested on 9 November after arriving to visit relatives. He is alleged to have been involved in the killings of left-wing prisoners and members of the banned Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) at Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, near Tehran. A decision on whether Nouri will be formally charged and face trial is due by 11 December.

Alistair Burt, the UK’s well-regarded Middle East minister, resigned from his government position on 26 March, becoming another political casualty in Britain’s chaotic attempt to leave the European Union. Burt stepped down from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office so he could vote freely on compromise Brexit proposals in parliament, in opposition to official government policy.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) on 18 April talked to US President Donald Trump. According to the White House readout of the call, the two spoke about the UAE’s “contributions to the global energy markets as a reliable supplier of oil” and the “crippling” impact of US oil sanctions against Iran. Trump was building support ahead of his decision to drop waivers for Iran’s leading oil buyers.

Senior Lebanese politicians rallied together on mid-September in a bid to prevent a diplomatic incident developing with Kuwait. There had been loud protests in Kuwait over comments made by Salem Zahran on 14 September on Al-Manar Television, the Lebanese station close to Hezbollah, in which Zahran claimed that during the emir’s recent visit to Washington he had been forced to cancel billions of dollars of contracts with Chinese firms and sign new deals with American firms instead.

In a contrast to the general regional antagonism, Iran’s ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi has said Tehran is willing to resolve its differences with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and would welcome any effort to make this happen by Iraq (who he praised for its “constructive role”) or any other country.

Albania expelled the two most senior Iranian diplomats in Tirana in mid-December, citing national security concerns. Ambassador Gholamhossein Mohammadnia and second counsellor Mostafa Roudaki were asked to leave. Mohammadnia blamed the move on US and Israeli pressure on Albania and said the expulsions were an attempt to undermine Iran’s relations with Europe. “We have always acted in line with the international rules,” he said on his return to Tehran.

A Saudi-UAE Economic Forum met in Riyadh on 31 January, highlighting once again the trend towards greater bilateral co-operation between the two countries. This has also been seen in the development of the Saudi-Emirati Co-ordination Council. The wide-ranging discussions included talk of investment opportunities in trade, industry, technology, media, financial services, food and energy. UAE economy minister Sultan Al-Mansouri told the gathering that the two countries “have managed over the past few years to make great strides toward effecting economic integration”.