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Few are indelicate enough to raise the issue, especially in the UAE where anyone perceived to have dissident views is under ever more pressure, but there are legitimate questions to be raised about the relationship between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and UAE Armed Forces deputy supreme commander Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) and Vice President and prime minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR).

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) has been slightly more active in recent weeks, following a period in which he had stayed out of the public eye, prompting rumours about his health or political position. Nonetheless, his appearances are still limited and confined to closed-door gatherings.

Parliament voted on 6 June for a manual recount of votes cast in the 12 May general election, despite opposition from the Independent High Elections Commission (IHEC), which had initially endorsed the poll’s outcome. The results of expatriate voters and those in internal refugee camps have also been cancelled.

Qatar Petroleum is to take a 30% equity stake in two ExxonMobil affiliates in Argentina, which hold unconventional exploration licences with a number of partners in seven onshore blocks in the Vaca Muerta shale formation in the Neuquén basin in western Argentina. QP president and chief executive Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said the deals with ExxonMobil Exploration Argentina and Mobil Argentina marked its first significant international investment in unconventional oil and gas resource.

Groupe PSA – owner of brands such as Citroën, Peugeot and Opel – has signed joint venture agreements worth a combined €700m ($820m) with Iran Khodro and Saipa since the Iran nuclear deal was implemented in January 2016. However, following the United States’ decision to pull out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the French car group has suspended both ventures with the two main Iranian car makers to build and sell Peugeot and Citroën cars.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) arrived in Moscow on 31 May for a brief, but significant, visit. Following talks on 1 June, MBZ and President Vladimir Putin signed a declaration on a strategic partnership, covering political, security, economic and cultural ties.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan welcomed Jordan’s Crown Prince Al-Hussein Bin Abdullah II with an iftar meal at Al-Bateen Palace on 28 May. On 3 June, MBZ was on the phone to King Abdullah II, whose official version stressed the strong relations between the two countries and the UAE’s support for Jordan. The call came at a time of widespread demonstrations in Jordan against proposed tax rises.

A slew of royal orders issues in the early hours of 2 June in the name of King Salman Bin Abdelaziz highlighted the government’s continued efforts to implement its reform agenda, with moves seemingly designed to tackle problems in the jobs market and to improve the country’s tourism credentials. Labour and social development minister Ali Bin Nasser Al-Ghafis was relieved of his post, to be replaced by Ahmed Bin Sulaiman Al-Rajhi, in an apparent recognition of the government’s continued failure to deal with persistent unemployment, particularly among young Saudis.

It was not immediately obvious how serious the issue would become when the Qatar crisis began with the planting of ‘fake news’ stories on the Qatar News Agency (QNA) website on 24 May 2017 (GSN 1,037/7). The region has seen plenty of divisions and arguments between members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) before – not least in 2014 when Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE briefly withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar (GSN 965/1). However, it soon became clear this was something different. As GSN noted in the early days of the dispute, it quickly began to look like the most consequential dispute among GCC members for years had erupted (GSN 1,038/1).

Rahbar (Supreme Leader) Ali Khamenei appointed Brigadier General Alireza Sabahi-Fard as the new commander of Khatam Al-Anbiya Air Defense Base on 29 March, taking over from Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili. The base is part of the Iranian Army (Artesh) and is in charge of the Islamic Republics’s land-based air defence systems. Khamenei urged Sabahi-Fard to boost the strength of Iran’s air defences and improve training programmes among other things.

A battle for the port city of Hodeida which has long loomed on the horizon appears to be nearing, with forces from the Saudi Arabia-led coalition moving fast up the west coast. In the final week of May alone, coalition forces advanced almost 90km, from Al-Hima to within striking distance of the port. That has prompted a new round of diplomatic activity from United Nations special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths in an effort to avoid large numbers of casualties should fighting intensify in and around what is a key supply route for the Houthi rebels.

Political clampdown: The government has banned tribes from holding large meetings, amid apparent increased nervousness about the potential for political opposition. The Public Prosecution Office has vowed to take “all relevant legal measures” against those who help to organise such gatherings, or promotes them on social media. The authorities have the benefit of a strict new penal code to enforce such warnings, which came into effect in mid-January. Articles explicitly prohibit arranging or calling for public gatherings of ten or more people that cause “a breach of security or public order”.

Paris daily Le Monde reported on 1 June that King Salman Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud has been lobbying French President Emmanuel Macron to help persuade Moscow not to supply its advanced S-400 air defence system to Qatar.

An Iranian Air Force F-7 crashed on 2 June close to the city of Hasanabad in Isfahan province, with officials at the Iranian Armed Forces Headquarters blaming technical failure. The pilot and co-pilot both ejected in time and there were no serious injuries reported. Pictures published in the local media showed the burnt-out carcass of the plane. It is one of a growing list of serious incidents involving Iranian air force planes.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) jointly chaired the first meeting of the Saudi-Emirati Co-ordination Council in Jeddah on 6 June. The council’s stated aim is to accelerate shared economic, social, political, security and military programmes.