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A series of incidents in western border regions have highlighted again the volatile security situation in the area. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has reported being involved in a number of clashes with armed groups based in neighbouring countries, including incidents on 24 June and 4 July. In the second of these, it said personnel from its Hamze Sayyid Al-Shohada base had clashed with “a team of terrorists” who had crossed the border from Turkey.

The UAE launched a national cybersecurity strategy on 24 June, with the aim of creating a resilient cyber infrastructure which can reliably protect personal and corporate data as well as the country’s critical infrastructure. Announcing the initiative, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority director general Hamad Obaid Al-Mansoori noted that cyberspace provides “endless opportunities for well-being”, but is also “a gateway for hackers and phishers”.

Islamic State (IS or Daesh) leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi appeared for only the second time on video in a segment released by the jihadist group’s Al-Furqan media network on 29 April. Clearly designed as a demonstration of defiance following Daesh’s loss of its last piece of territory in eastern Syria, the video served to assert Baghdadi’s continuing leadership. It also gave clues as to where Daesh intends to strike next, as it switches emphasis from holding territory to mounting insurgent, terrorist attacks.

The United States is to provide counter-terrorism training and materials on a grant basis, as one of a series of agreements finalised during the Third US-Kuwait Strategic Dialogue, which took place in Kuwait on 20 March. The two governments also signed off on plans to improve co-operation to identify high-risk travellers that pose a security risk. It was only in January that the US lifted a three-year block on Kuwait Airways operating direct flights to New York.

Members of the Saudi-led Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC), the body set up at the behest of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in December 2015, held their inaugural council meeting in Riyadh on 3 March.

Major General Mohammed Bin Saeed Al-Moghedi has taken over as secretary general of the Islamic Military Counter-Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC), the anti-terrorism alliance announced by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) in December 2015. Al-Moghedi succeeds Lieutenant General Abdelelah Bin Othman Al-Saleh. The IMCTC’s military commander, General (retired) Raheel Sharif remains in his post. Al-Moghedi previously served in the Royal Saudi Land Forces and was most recently head of the Intelligence Directorate and Saudi Land Forces Security. According to IMCTC, in February 2018 Al-Moghedi chaired a joint mediation team

Oil giant Saudi Aramco has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the local subsidiary of United States defence firm Raytheon to set up a company to develop cybersecurity services in the kingdom and around the region.

Despite a notable fall in the number of deaths caused by terrorist activity, Iraq continues to rank as the country worst affected by terrorism, according to the latest Global Terrorism Index, compiled by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP). IEP recorded 4,271 deaths attributable to terrorism in Iraq in 2017, down from 9,783 the year before and the lowest number since 2012. There was also a significant fall in the number of terrorist incidents in Iraq, with 1,956 in 2017 compared to 2,969 the year before.

The State Department has approving the sale of five Armed Bell 407GX helicopters configured with M240 7.62mm machine guns to the Iraqi government, at a total cost of $82.5m. Also included as part of the package are secure communication radios, automatic plume detectors, airborne countermeasure dispensing systems and rocket launchers.The helicopters will help compensate the Iraqi Security Forces for the loss of seven IA407 helicopters in combat in recent years. The new models represent an upgrade on the IA407.

Kuwaiti deputy foreign minister Khaled Al-Jarallah has publicly backed a proposal from the United States to form a new Middle East Security Alliance (MESA), popularly referred to as an ‘Arab NATO’. Speaking at an event in Kuwait City on 11 October, he said “we have always welcomed this idea as we believe we are in need of such alliances in light of the challenges we face. We need a bloc capable of meeting these challenges.”

Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) military commander General Raheel Sharif held talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and UAE Armed Forces deputy supreme commander Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) at Al-Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi on 9 September. The official statement said they discussed efforts to combat terrorism and reviewed the IMCTC’s strategy and mechanisms.

Iranian and Israeli forces have traded fire across Syria’s border with the Israeli-held Golan Heights. The attacks began with around 20 Iranian-made Grad and Fajr rockets being fired at Israeli army bases in the early hours of 10 May. Israel alleged the assault was carried out by the Quds Force, the elite wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and swiftly retaliated with strikes on dozens of Iranian military sites in Syria and on Syrian air defences.

There was one awkward element to Crown Prince and defence minister Mohammed Bin Salman’s protracted tour of the United States: a New York court on 28 March rejected Riyadh’s attempts to dismiss a lawsuit against the Saudi government for its alleged role in providing support to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Interior minister Lieutenant-General Sheikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa travelled to the UK in late January for talks with government ministers and backbench MPs, in an effort to impress upon London the terrorist threats his government says it is facing.

Doha took another step to bolster its standing with key Western allies by signing a security agreement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in Brussels. The deal was signed on 16 January by Qatar Armed Forces head of international military co-operation Brigadier General Tariq Khalid Alobaidli and NATO deputy secretary-general Rose Gottemöller. It provides a framework for the exchange of classified information and is similar in scope to existing security agreements NATO has with Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE.