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Gulf States Newsletter has launched a new website which we hope will enhance subscribers’ use of GSN and its associated resources. The Twittersphere and other, even less benign environments may speculate on GSN’s ownership – hardly surprising as so many media outlets show little or no sign of having either subscription revenue or advertising income.

A series of talks between Iranian and GCC officials have been held during December and early January in Gulf capitals, as well as on the sidelines of events in Jordan and Brazil, in moves that suggest Tehran is recalibrating its relations with neighbouring monarchies during a period of intense domestic tensions.

The overwhelming might of Iran’s internal security apparatus has ruthlessly suppressed the demonstrations which broke out in September 2022, following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The regime has dug in at home and abroad to protect the system of clerical rule, with hardliners as dominant as ever. But the protests have continued despite this onslaught and the regime’s critics have found new ways to express their discontent, from widespread strikes (including in the Tehran bazaar, a bastion of the 1979 revolution), to cyberattacks on state banks and other institutions.

A year on from the Al-Ula agreement that ended the boycott of Qatar by three of its Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) neighbours – Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – Qatar is enjoying a fresh period of political calm. Indeed, in many ways it now looks to be in a better place than most of its erstwhile foes in the GCC.

Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) announced a reshuffle of the federal cabinet on 25 September, alongside what he termed “a new government strategic approach that will lay the foundations of work for the next 50 years”.

Oman's Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said was unusually active in late May, making trips to Cairo and Tehran in quick succession, just as Egypt and Iran were edging towards a diplomatic rapprochement. Recent reports also suggest Oman may once again be acting as a mediator between Washington and Tehran.

There are many reasons for environmentalists to be suspicions about the UAE's stewardship of the upcoming UN Climate Conference COP28, but it could prove a historic mistake for the mostly western critics to underestimate the summit's president-designate Sultan Al-Jaber. While detractors fear the event is morphing into a vehicle for hydrocarbons industry lobbying, the UAE claims it is serious about renewable energy and is recruiting a potentially powerful southern alliance to its side.