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Kuwait’s National Assembly (parliament) speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim has held a pair of notably high-level meetings in Saudi Arabia. On 30 April, he had an audience with King Salman Bin Abdelaziz at Al-Safa palace in Mecca. The meeting was also attended by Mecca governor Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, Al-Baha governor Prince Dr Hussam Bin Saud Bin Abdelaziz and Eastern Province deputy governor Prince Ahmed Bin Fahd Bin Salman.

Oman has used its good offices to secure the release of more than a dozen foreign nationals in Yemen, including crew members of the UAE-flagged cargo ship Rwabee, which was captured by Houthi rebels in January.

Among a number of moves to support African governments challenged by spiralling commodities prices, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance in mid-April announced the transfer of its $300m deposit with Central Bank of Mauritania into a soft loan, “as part of the kingdom’s ongoing efforts and leadership role in supporting the development and economy of Arab and Islamic states”.

France has condemned the arrest of two of its citizens in Iran as 'baseless' and called for their immediate release. Several other French citizens have been arrested and convicted of spying in recent years.

Geopolitical and energy security considerations have brutally shifted since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, prompting the US to regear its relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Comments by two senior members of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in early June prompted condemnation from Gulf governments and calls on social media for a boycott of Indian goods.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Tehran on 22 June, for talks with President Ebrahim Raeisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, with sanctions, Syria and the consequences of the Ukraine war all on the agenda.

A reshuffle of senior Kuwaiti ambassadors is continuing, with veteran envoy to London Khaled Al-Duweisan retiring after 29 years in the post.

Iranian and Russian officials confirmed that President Vladimir Putin would visit Tehran on 19 July for three-way talks also involving Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (Baca) chair Sheikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa has been dismissed from her post, after reportedly refusing to shake hands with Israel’s ambassador to Bahrain Eitan Naeh.

The Iraqi Court of Cassation has overturned a 15-year sentence for British geologist James Fitton, who had been convicted in early June for trying to smuggle antique pottery shards out of Iraq.

The UK’s newly-installed Prime Minister Liz Truss named James Cleverly as foreign, commonwealth and development affairs minister, as part of her first cabinet after taking office on 6 September.

There has been widespread speculation that President Xi Jinping is preparing for a trip to Saudi Arabia, where he is likely to receive a more effusive welcome than United States President Joe Biden received in Jeddah in July.

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol caused a diplomatic stir during a state visit to the UAE from 14-17 January when he described Iran as "the enemy of the UAE, its most-threatening nation".

Kuwaiti diplomat Abdullah Abdulsamad Dashti was appointed United Nations Co-ordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The initiative was launched by Ukraine, Turkey, Russia and the UN to enable exports of grain, foodstuffs and fertiliser from Ukraine via a safe maritime corridor.