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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.

A drone strike on Arbat Airport in Sulaymaniyah governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in September killed three members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's elite Counterterrorism Group and wounded three others. Iraqi military officials blamed Turkey for the attack.

Bahrain's General Sports Authority chairman Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa attended the opening ceremony of the 2023 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia mid-September. 

Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah travelled to China from 20-24 September, for the start of the 19th Asian Games. Among those in his delegation were foreign affairs minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and oil minister Saad Al-Barrak.

Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mana Bin Khalifa Al-Maktoum has been named chairman of UAE-based decarbonisation company Zero Carbon after investing in the company’s $5m seed financing round.

Sharjah Ruler Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al-Qasimi visited Muscat for a two-day official visit – the second Emirati ruler to make the journey in recent months, following a visit by Ras Al-Khaimah Ruler Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi in June.

Fitch Ratings upgraded Oman's long-term foreign-currency rating by one notch on 25 September, taking it from BB to BB+, with a stable outlook.

Fresh fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in September has left Azerbaijan empowered and it could now try to realise long-held ambitions to create a land route through Armenia to its Nakhichevan exclave. For Iran, this could mean a de facto end to its own border with Armenia and a sometimes-hostile neighbour stretching across its northwest frontier.

An inquiry into alleged corruption at the European Parliament involving Qatari cash and other gifts has been delayed after a Belgian court ruled that an investigation should first be carried out into the way prosecutors handled the case. 

Iran's Foreign Ministry have reportedly developed a network of academics and foreign policy advisers in the west who worked for high-profile thinktanks and as aides to senior United States officials.

Sheikh Khalifa Bin Tahnoon Bin Mohammed Al-Nahyan was named chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court , in an emiri decree issued by Abu Dhabi Ruler and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ). 

Baghdad claims to have disarmed and moved Iranian Kurdish exiles from the border area with Iran, but the reality is that compliance has been more limited, meaning further Iranian military strikes on the area are a distinct possibility.

An Iranian ballistic missile test failed mid-September, with debris from the Khorramshar-4 projectile falling over the north-east city of Gorgan, close to the Caspian Sea.

Saudi Aramco said it was buying a minority stake in liquefied natural gas (LNG) company MidOcean Energy for $500m, with an option to buy more shares in the future. It is the Saudi giant’s first international LNG investment.