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Iran reopened its embassy in Riyadh, some seven years after it was shuttered and three months after the two countries agreed to resume full diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by China. Iran also reopened its consulate in Jeddah. 

United States secretary of state Antony Blinken visited Riyadh for talks with senior Gulf Co-operation Council figures as well as Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council head Rashad Al-Alimi and Iraqi foreign minister Fuad Hussein.

A cross-party group of British parliamentarians has launched an enquiry into the UAE's legal system and its treatment of foreign businesspeople.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan secured a third term as Turkey's president in late May, despite significant weaknesses in the domestic economy and a stronger than usual opposition challenge. Gulf leaders quickly called to congratulate Erdoğan and the UAE president was one of the first to do so in person – a sign that, even if they are increasingly reluctant to write blank cheques, they are still keen to do business with a country with significant economic and military potential.

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan hosted Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council chairman Rashad Al-Alimi at Qasr Al-Bahr in Abu Dhabi.

At least three border guards were killed late May, in clashes on the frontier between Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province and Afghanistan’s Nimroz province, amid rising tensions over water flows.

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.

Khalaf Abdel Rahman Hamid Al-Rumaithi was extradited from Jordan to the UAE. He was convicted in the UAE on terrorism-related charges in a notorious mass trial in 2013. Now a Turkish citizen and resident in Turkey, but formerly a senior civil servant in the UAE, Al-Rumaithi was arrested by the Jordanian authorities when visiting Amman.

Bahrain said it would send an ambassador back to Lebanon, after a break of some 19 months. Manama had withdrawn its envoy in October 2021, in response to comments by Lebanese information minister George Kordahi in which he was highly critical of the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Iran freed Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele in exchange for the release of Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi from jail in Belgium, in a deal arranged by Oman. The two men first travelled to Muscat before heading on to their respective home countries.

The UAE government said it was changing the name of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation to the simpler Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). No reason was given for the name change. 

Iran has appointed Alireza Enayati as its ambassador to Saudi Arabia, following the China-brokered rapprochement between the two Gulf powers in March. Enayati previously served as ambassador to Kuwait, from 2014 to 2019.

Canada and Saudi Arabia announced that they had agreed to resume full diplomatic relations and appoint ambassadors to each other’s capitals. The move followed discussions between Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of last November’s Apec forum in Bangkok.

Iran released Frenchman Benjamin Briere and French/Irish national Bernard Phelan from prison, describing it as a goodwill gesture. But it executed Swedish-Iranian national Habib Chaab, drawing condemnation from the EU.

Former Italian foreign affairs minister Luigi di Maio was named as the European Union’s special representative for the Gulf region. Critics have questioned his suitability for the role, given the difficulties in Italian-Gulf relations when he was foreign minister.