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Oman's State Audit Institution (SAI) director general Sharifa Bint Yahya Al-Mahrouqiyya said more than 30 civil servants had been found guilty of corruption and embezzlement last year. Speaking during a local television interview, she outlined details from her organisation’s annual report for 2022.

Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company chief executive Sheikh Abdulla Bin Khalifa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa was appointed as a board member of the Economic Development Board (EDB). He will serve for the rest of the current board’s term, which is due to end in March 2024.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud returned to Riyadh, after over a month in the northwest city of Neom. In that time, he chaired several weekly cabinet meetings. 

Sheikh Theyab Bin Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan – son of UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) – has been named chairman of the Office of Development and Martyrs Families Affairs at the Presidential Court with the rank of minister.

Supreme Council for Youth and Sports deputy chairman Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa opened the fourth edition of Bahrain Comic Con at the Bahrain International Circuit, with some of his children attending, along with children of national security adviser Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa.

Emirati Sheikh Mohammed Bin Saqr Bin Hamad Al-Qasimi was promoted to the role of chairman of the Labour Standards Development Authority (LSDA) in a decree issued by Sharjah Ruler Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al-Qasimi early October.

Revised September 2023, this map illustrates Iranian oil and gas infrastructure.  The locations of onshore and offshore oil and gas fields and pipelines are marked alongside associated infrastructure including oil refineries, gas processing plants, tanker terminals and LNG facilities. An accompanying box displays province populations as well as their respective governor-generals.  The map is available as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.

Revised September 2023, this map illustrates Iranian defence infrastructure. The locations of Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) bases, nuclear and missile and missile research sites are charted. The map is available as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.

Saudi Arabia’s announcement that it would extend its 1m b/d production cut until the end of the year – backed by Opec+ partner Russia’s commitment to extend its 300,000 b/d export cut – moved the price of marker Brent crude back above $90/bbl for the first time since November 2022.

Yemen deaths: The Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) announced on 25 September that First Lieutenant Mubarak Hashel Zayed Al-Kubaisi and Corporal Yaqoub Rahmat Moulai Mohammed had been killed while serving along the Saudi-Yemen border. Several others were wounded in what it described as a drone attack by Houthi forces; Warrant Officer Adam Salem Naseeb succumbed to his injuries two days later.

Issue 1,177 leads with the complex relationship between Saudi Arabia and Israel, amid speculation fuelled by key decision-makers that an unprecedented normalisation deal might be in the works. Alongside this major diplomatic initiative are plans to develop a regional corridor that could tie the former belligerents closer together. GSN examines the India-Europe trade corridor plan, launched at the early September G20 summit, which could be developed as a counter to rival schemes that have Iranian, Iraqi, Russian and Turkish backing.  Several regional disputes are discussed in GSN’s Politics section, including analysis of the Iraqi Constitutional Court’s intervention over a waterway shared with Kuwait. Iran, meanwhile, is concerned about Azerbaijan’s conflict with Armenia and fears for its own borders. Tensions around Kurdish communities are also analysed. Kuwaiti politics and society are increasingly dominated by conservative religious and tribal factions after Islamists and Salafists made progress in recent National Assembly elections. GSN outlines the move towards gender segregation and other policies that depart from Kuwait’s traditional constitutional values and asks how the Al-Sabah leadership has reacted. GSN’s Energy and Industry section reports the success of the Saudi/Russian Opec+ alliance, which has pushed crude prices above $90 per barrel – a level that could be sustained through 2024.

The recent decision by Iraq's Constitutional Court to annul a 2013 law that regulated the use of the Khor Abdullah waterway shared with Kuwait has continued to cause diplomatic waves, with Kuwait rallying its international friends and partners to put pressure on Baghdad over the decision. 

Amini death anniversary: Iran marked the first anniversary of the death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on 16 September. Her death  had sparked widespread protests across the Islamic republic, which were eventually suppressed by the authorities. In the run-up, the authorities had launched a concerted effort to dissuade anyone from marking the anniversary, although some protests still went ahead.

Revised September 2023, this map illustrates proposed trade routes through the Gulf States.  Included are the India-Middle East-Europe Economic, International North-South Transport, North-South Transitional, Afghanistan-Iran-India Trade corridors, the Iraq Development Road and the Middle East to India Deepwater Natural Gas and Iran-Pakistani Gas pipelines. This map accompanies the article, Saudi Arabia and UAE sign up for India-Europe trade corridor, examining the India-Europe trade corridor plan, launched at the early September G20 summit, which could be developed as a counter to rival schemes that have Iranian, Iraqi, Russian and Turkish backing. The map is available as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.

Dubai’s government plans to cut its debts by AED29bn ($7.9bn) this year, in a sign the emirate may be getting to grips with what has been a key economic vulnerability. In a statement, Dubai said it would pay off part of a AED20bn loan from the Central Bank of the UAE and Abu Dhabi government, which was provided after the 2008/09 financial crisis.