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In a sign of shifting regional alignments, Qatar is said to have revised its previous backing for the Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimeen (Muslim Brotherhood or MB)-affiliated Ennahda party, opening the prospect of much-needed funds coming to Tunis from a source that has been missing in recent years, having previously been Tunisia’s second largest investor after France.

Iranian Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani has been taking the lead in the recent diplomatic rapprochement with Iran’s Gulf neighbours.  Analysts suggest that Shamkhani has been recognised as a more skilled messenger than foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The leadership of Abu Dhabi’s two main wealth funds – the $790bn Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) and the $285bn Mubadala Investment Company – has been reshuffled, with national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan becoming chairman of Adia and Presidential Court minister Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan taking that role at Mubadala. Their brother UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) had previously been chairman of both funds.

If it were a small nation, Basra could be a wealthy petrostate like Abu Dhabi or Kuwait. Instead, it is Iraq’s poorest province, despite producing 90% of government revenues. It has though been growing in stature and influence – underlined by the success in hosting the Gulf Cup football tournament in January.

The Kuwaiti Constitutional Court’s decision to annul the September 2022 general election and reinstate the previous National Assembly (parliament) has wide-ranging implications, going beyond its immediate impacts of wiping out any legislation passed since the poll and returning Marzouq Al-Ghanim as speaker.

Overall, the Iraqi delegation - led by foreign minister Fuad Hussein, and included  bankers, businessmen and spin-doctors - left Washington satisfied by the positive optics around the US-Iraq partnership and broad acceptance of prime minister Mohammed Al-Sudani's agenda.  

Saudi Arabia's King Salman Bin Abdelaziz appointed a well-known local journalist - Salman Bin Yousef Bin Ali Al-Dosari - as media minister, in a minor reshuffle of officials. Al-Dosari is a former editor of London-based daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

A United Nations appeal to raise funds to tackle Yemen’s deepening crisis failed to meet its target at the high-level event in Geneva late February, raising just $1.2bn of the $4.3bn that was sought. It was a shortfall that echoed what has happened at past UN fundraising events.

In rare public criticism of the authorities, Grand Mufti of Oman Ahmed Bin Hamad Al-Khalili has voiced his objection to a recent decision to open Omani airspace to Israeli planes.

Qatar rapprochement: Efforts to rebuild relations between Manama and Doha are continuing, following a series of contacts between leading figures from both countries in January and February, including a phone call between Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and Bahrain’s Prime Minister and Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa in late January and a meeting between their foreign ministers in Riyadh in early February

Saudi Prince Fahd Bin Mansour Bin Nasser in early March launched the Saudi-Pakistan Tech House in Islamabad, to focus on creating opportunities via partnerships with Pakistani IT companies.

Free trade deal taking Tehran further into Russia’s orbit: Tehran continues to negotiate a free trade deal with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), with local media suggesting an agreement may be signed later this year. Six rounds of talks have been held, following a temporary agreement signed in May 2018 which came into force in 2019.

Saudi Princess Lamia Bint Majed Bin Saud was reappointed as a goodwill ambassador to the Arab world for the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) late February, for a second term (she was first appointed in 2020).

Major General Pilot Sheikh Ahmed Bin Tahnoun Bin Mohammed Al-Nahyan was named deputy chief of staff of the UAE Armed Forces. He previously served as National and Reserve Service Authority chairman, overseeing the launch of national service for UAE citizens in 2014.

Former Saudi deputy defence minister Prince Khalid Bin Sultan is being sued for at least £30m ($36m) by an Irish subsidiary of China Minsheng Bank over unpaid debts linked to a personal guarantee he had provided for a private Boeing 787 jet.