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UK international trade minister Ranil Jayawardena visited Doha in early June, where he met commerce and industry minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Al-Thani. Jayawardena was also hosted by the Syrian-Qatari Al-Khayyat brothers, Ramez and Moutaz.

United Nations envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg told the UN Security Council on 14 June there had been no confirmed airstrikes inside Yemen, or cross-border attacks from Yemen, since the first country-wide ceasefire in six years, announced on 2 April. A 60-day extension to the truce was announced by Grundberg on 2 June.  

Russian oil companies – under pressure from international sanctions due to the Ukraine war – are reportedly exploring the idea of setting up oil trading divisions in Dubai.

Manea Bin Hamad Al-Mahdhel Al-Yami, a founding member of the Saudi opposition National Assembly Party (Naas), was killed in Lebanon on 9 July. In a statement on Twitter, Naas said he had been “assassinated in suspicious circumstances”.

Qatar’s recent deals to bring five majors – Shell, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Eni – into the $29bn North Field East (NFE) project underline Doha’s ambitions for its liquified natural gas (LNG) sector and Emir Sheikh Tamim’s political priorities, as QatarEnergy’s sales are redirected towards Europe.

There has been speculation that US President Joe Biden’s mid-July trip to Jeddah may be used as the moment to push forward with a deal for Saudi Arabia to be formally recognised as having control over two Red Sea islands that, until recently, were leased by Egypt.

Lawyers acting for Fawaz Al-Attiyah have written to UK foreign secretary Liz Truss calling for diplomatic immunity to be lifted on Qatar’s former premier Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani (HBJ), who is currently listed as a minister counsellor at the Qatari embassy.

The UAE and Kuwait will soon be sending ambassadors back to Tehran, for the first time since early 2016.

Large numbers of Moqtada Al-Sadr's followers took to the streets of Sadr City, Baghdad, in a show of strength by the Iraqi cleric, who called on State of Law leader Nouri Al-Maliki to quit the political arena. Numerous names had been floated as a potential premier.

Sheikh Nasser Bin Abdulrahman Bin Nasser Al-Thani and his real estate company Daruna for Real Estate Brokerage Company have been awarded QR13.7m ($3.8m) in damages by the Qatar International Court, following a dispute with Qatar First Bank (QFB) over a failed plan to build workers’ accommodation north of Doha. The award was a fraction of the QR857m they had been claiming.

GSN Risk Grade: D4↓ Elections delayed: The election for the Kurdistan parliament is expected to be postponed by at least six months after the existing parliament failed to agree on the details of a new election bill. In a press conference in Erbil on 28 August, MP Yemen Hawrami said the remit of the exiting parliament – which was elected in 2018 for a four-year term – would be extended by six months.

Bahrain is heading into another election for its unicameral  parliament, the Council of Representatives (Majlis Al-Nuwab), amid calls by government critics to shun the event.There are doubts about the level of voter enthusiasm even without a formal boycott, with opposition parties such as Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society and Waad (the National Democratic Action Society) still banned

The six-month-long truce in Yemen expired on 2 October, prompting fears of a return to clashes across all fronts. United Nations special envoy Hans Grundberg had been engaged in another round of shuttle diplomacy in the lead-up to the deadline. However, the eleventh-hour diplomacy by Grundberg failed to convince the two sides.

Tempers are fraying over the early-October decision by members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies in the Opec+ group to cut oil production. The most prominent members, Russia and Saudi Arabia, remain in a cosy alliance and western efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and the Gulf countries have yet to show any returns. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi seem unfazed by any possible reputational risks, while they continue to sweat the global economy for revenues.

At least two rounds of talks have been held between Iranian and Ukrainian officials in Oman, to discuss Tehran’s supply of armed drones to Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, according to GSN sources.