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The deeply polarising campaigns that ushered Iraq towards its 30 April election now look set to give way to a period of political wrangling and uncertainty, as the main parties jostle for influence in the new government. Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has taken longer than normal to begin announcing results, though as GSN went to press the count seemed to have been mostly completed in the Shiite provinces which will determine the balance of power. No reliable reports had emerged about voting patterns in the more unstable Sunni areas, however, where the run-up to the election was marred by ongoing violence.

One of King Salman Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud’s first moves on succeeding his half-brother Abdullah in January was to abolish the Ministry of Higher Education, merging it with the Ministry of Education, under the latter’s name. It was a move that provoked a few gasps, given the importance Abdullah placed on education, seeming at first glance to portend the reining in of the some of the late king’s ambitious reforms. Yet the way Saudi educational leaders have sought to spin it, Salman’s move was not about smothering his predecessor’s strategic intent to have education drive societal change.

Talks in Damascus on 26 October have underlined Oman’s status as the most practised of Gulf Co-operation Council states in acting as a back channel and mediator. Sultan Qaboos’ veteran aide, foreign minister Yusuf Bin Alawi, held talks with President Bashar Al-Assad, which Syrian state news agency Sana said “discussed ideas that have been put forward to address the Syrian crisis”. It followed Assad’s visit to Moscow.

The three-year, slow-burning conflict in Bahrain remains a minor headache to most international governments, in a region full of thumping migraines. But as l’affaire Malinowksi reminded us this month, for all the West’s efforts to coax the Al-Khalifa into submission with the vocabulary of “longstanding bilateral relationships” and “strong partnerships”, the problem of Bahrain will not fade away.

Three Saudi nationals have been charged in the United States for spying on Riyadh’s opponents by accessing private information on them via Twitter and sending the information to the Saudi government. Two of the defendants, Ali Al-Zabarah and Ahmed Abouammo, are former Twitter employees. The US authorities said they had sought information about accounts that had been critical of the Saudi government, including the email addresses, IP addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth of those behind the accounts, which could then be used to identify and locate the individuals.

ENERGY: The two countries signed “an executive programme for implementing the petroleum co-operation agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Russian Federation”, according to Saudi state news agency SPA. This was signed by minister of petroleum and mineral resources Ali Al-Naimi and Russian energy minister Alexander Novak. Naimi – who said (again) he was optimistic about oil prices – was quoted as saying the co-operation would “lead to creating a petroleum alliance between the two countries for the benefit of the international oil market as well as producing countries, and stabilising and improving the market”.

The Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) summit ended on 11 December with a communiqué which welcomed the “new stand of the Iranian leadership towards the GCC states” and the preliminary agreement signed by the P5+1 and Iran (GSN 959/1), and “stressed the importance of closer co-operation between GCC countries and Iran”, according to UAE state news agency Wam. The communiqué follows 1-4 December visits to Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE by Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who said the trip was “to open a new page in relations with the Gulf”.

The Bahrain Grand Prix is widely seen as the pet project of Crown Prince Salman. Other family members also have links to the sport:

Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said has named his cousin Assad Bin Tariq deputy prime minister for international relations and his special representative. Decree 10/2017 of 2 March said the decision was based on the “pursuit of the general interest”.The move has sparked coniderable interest, with some media outlets suggesting it meant the sultan had finally chosen a successor. However, this is far from clear. The appointment could be a way of sharing some of the burdens of government.

Abu Dhabi has finished its spending review, and announced a number of weighty projects to benefit Emiratis – which, as GSN reported last week, is no surprise for a government anxious to keep its nationals on side, given the example learnt from watching the impact of disenfranchised populations through the region (GSN 915/5

The return of mass bomb attacks to the streets of Iraq is a potent reminder that the country is still ruled by violence. As the murder of four of the five Britons kidnapped by Shia extremists shows, extreme force still pays political dividends in this brutal environment

The European Union has named Christoph Buik as the new head of mission for the EU Advisory Mission in Iraq (EUAM Iraq), starting from 1 January. He will take over from Markus Ritter, who has held the post since October 2017.Buik, a German citizen, is currently director of the Standing Police Capacity at the United Nations Global Service Centre.

Dr Andrew Murrison has been appointed minister of state for the Middle East, taking over from Alistair Burt who resigned in April over the government’s Brexit (leaving the European Union) policy. Murrison was also appointed minister of state at the Department for International Development, with responsibility for the Middle East and North Africa.

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

Significant injections of foreign capital and expertise are essential to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s ability to push through the Vision 2030 programme to overhaul the Saudi economy. Among positive messages received by investors in London and other capitals, the Tadawul is planning to increase the level of foreign investment it allows from 4% to 25% by 2020. However, GSN has received reports from numerous sources of programmes being rolled back as local realities weigh on the programme compiled by McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group and other international consultants.