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After a dazzling record in the Iran-Iraq war, the Iraqi Army Air Corps (IrAAC) was destined to play a leading role in the invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990.

The latest bloodbath in Saada, causing tens of thousands of civilians to flee, has made international news. The roots of the crisis, and the continuing confrontation in the south, present a complex challenge to Ali Abdullah Saleh

The Al-Houthi rebellion is closely linked to the north's distinctive traditions of Zaidi Shiism and the emergence of a 'revivalist' movement among Zaidis resentful of the growing influence of the Sunni conservative Salafi Wahhabis

Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) navies are rapidly building up powerful fleets of muscular corvettes and multi-role offshore patrol vessels, making it likely that nations such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman will soon boast the most advanced surface combatants in the region.

A cargo ship that vanished en route from Finland to Algeria on 24 July was carrying arms to Iran and was being tracked by the Israeli security service Mossad, according to sources in Russia and Israel quoted in UK newspaper The Sunday Times.

The wily president will need all his political skills to find a way out of the present crisis, but with national unity in jeopardy Ali Abdullah Saleh seems in no mood to compromise on major issues, and jails across Yemen are filling up

Oman has reduced the chance of conflict with Iran in the tight confines of the Strait of Hormuz through a policy of engagement, committed defence diplomacy and other confidence-building measures. It regards maintaining defences as an effective way of levering diplomatic efforts and forcing Iran to respect the Sultanate (see GSN view). In 1980, Omani and Iranian naval forces faced off in shows of force,

The Al-Houthis' threat to a united Yemeni state is less well articulated than the Southern Movement's challenge to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, but it remains a major thorn in Sanaa's flesh. In spite of Qatari and domestic

Once debate was unleashed in Iran’s election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s maverick foreign policy came to play an important role in shaping opinion, among ordinary voters who see beyond populist sentiments to count the cost of Iran’s isolation as well as among elite players who have increasingly come to view the incumbent as a liability.

The 15 March suicide bombing of Korean tourists in Yemen and the 18 March follow-up attack on a foreign convoy in Sana’a have underlined the danger of trying to draw a line under Yemen’s terrorist threat.

Veteran diplomat, linguist and former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Chas Freeman, has withdrawn from consideration for the position of National Intelligence Council chairman (GSN 848/4). Only two weeks ago, director of National Intelligence

President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February travelled to Russia for high-profile talks with President Dmitry Medvedev, his mentor Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. While talks mainly centred on arms deals, Saleh also met the head of Russian oil giant Gazprom. Yemeni state media reported officials signed a '$1bn deal' to buy Russian equipment, including fighter planes, helicopters and tanks. This included the purchase of MiG-29 planes, helicopters, T-80 and T-72 tanks, and armoured vehicles. Local observers have long speculated that Yemen could be one of several regional states to host Russian bases in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean,

The Obama administration’s decision to attempt diplomatic re-engagement with Iran provides a moment of excruciating discomfort for many US politicians and generals. GSN has been exposed to some of the thinking going on inside the Pentagon, as well as in the think tanks and State Department offices charged with charting a path through this dangerous territory.

Reflecting growing bilateral ties in the sphere of defence planning, the US and UAE scripts on the seriousness of Iran’s nuclear programme are quickly coming into sync. Just over a month since the UAE Armed Forces Officers Club in Abu Dhabi hosted the first Middle East Missile and Air Defence Conference, a government-run think-tank issued statements that were unusually blunt in describing the nuclear threat to the region.

Reports of an upcoming sale of the Russian-built SA-20 systems to Iran will focus Israeli minds on the need to acquire F-22 fighter aircraft technology, whose export is currently banned by US law