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Marking his steady rehabilitation in the region, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad arrived in Muscat on 20 February for an official visit, and was met at the airport by Oman's Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said. Assad has rarely travelled abroad since the civil war began in Syria – when regional leaders turned against him – visiting only close allies Russia and Iran.

Many issues that have divided senior Al-Sabahs seem to have been resolved at a major parley between opposing players in the Kuwaiti ruling family.

The lengthy and rather dismal state of Kuwait’s anti-corruption campaign continues to be a central focus in domestic politics.

Kuwaiti sources believe it is likely the government will resort to another unconstitutional resignation and cabinet reshuffle to avoid facing members of parliament (MP)’s calls for debt relief and other populist measures.

The death of Emirati Sheikha Maryam Bint Abdullah Bin Sulayem Al-Falasi was announced in February. She was the mother of Sheikha Salama Bint Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al-Nahyan, the wife of UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ).

The Saudi Fund for Development has agreed to inject $320m into a joint project to build the infrastructure to support a new special economic zone (SEZ) in Oman’s Al-Dhahirah governorate.

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.

Gulf countries have despatched search and rescue teams, medical equipment, temporary housing and other relief supplies to Turkey and Syria in the wake of the devastating earthquake that hit in the early hours of 6 February. Qatar and the UAE were among the first to respond; flights left from Kuwait the following day. Aid has also been forthcoming from Saudi Arabia and Iran.

A concerted effort to put relations between Bahrain and Qatar on a more normal footing is under way, signalled by a meeting between their foreign ministers at the Gulf Co-operation Council headquarters in Riyadh in February.

In his new book, 25 Days to Aden, regional risk and security expert Michael Knights – a former contributor to GSN – has offered an unprecedented view of the UAE as a rising, and effective, military power, as it became embroiled in the Yemen conflict.

Azerbaijan has closed its embassy in Tehran and evacuated staff and their families, following a gun attack on the diplomatic mission late January in which one security guard  was killed and two others wounded. Azerbaijan complained local security personnel had done nothing to defend the embassy.

With signs of improved relations between Bahrain and Qatar on the cards, GSN looks back through the archives at the fluctuating relationship between the too often feuding neighbours.

Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian undertook a tour of friendly Latin American countries in early February, but stopped off in Mauritania on the way.

An official visit by UAE's President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) to Pakistan was postponed at the last minute on 30 January, with an official statement citing weather conditions. The proposed visit would have come just days after MBZ had last been to the country on 25 January.

Qatar’s foreign affairs minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani travelled to Tehran on 29 January, to pass on a message from the United States about the moribund 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.