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The ambivalent attitude of Gulf rulers towards Washington has been given added rationale by two newly released opinion polls, which found that nationals of Saudi Arabia and the UAE think it more important to maintain good relations with Russia and China than with the United States.

GSN Risk Grade: D4↑ National dialogue: A second round of talks between most of Iraq’s political leaders on 5 September saw them agree to work towards early elections. However, differences remain over the rules for any new vote. 

The death of Queen Elizabeth II and the succession of King Charles III was met with expressions of sympathy and respect from political leaders across the Gulf. Queen Elizabeth was a globally-recognised figure and some in the region knew her well, including UAE Federal Vice President and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, with whom she shared a deep interest in horse racing.

The Netherlands government has contributed a further $7.5m to a United Nations-led scheme to secure the FSO Safar floating oil terminal. The vessel is moored off the coast of Hodeidah and at risk of breaking up or exploding, spilling more than 1m barrels of crude oil into the Red Sea and causing economic and environmental devastation.

Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah returned to Kuwait on 14 September, following a private visit to Italy that began in early August. There was no official word on the reason for the emir’s trip, but observers have said it is likely to be linked to Sheikh Nawaf’s poor health.

The turnout of global leaders in London bore witness to Queen Elizabeth II’s global standing. Solidarity between monarchies was apparent from the Middle East and North African attendance.

Cristian Tudor has taken up the post of head of the newly-opened European Union delegation to Qatar, as of 1 September. Tudor was previously head of the EU delegation to Kuwait and has also served as Romania’s ambassador to Qatar.

Iraq’s Air Defence Command has started to use the Thales Ground Master 403 (GM403) long-range air surveillance radar, following an inauguration ceremony on 11 September.

Dubai-based DP World said on 20 September that the Hong Kong Court of Appeal had ruled in its favour in the latest stage of a long-running dispute over a contract to run the Doraleh container terminal in Djibouti.

United States Central Command (Centcom) is planning to set up a new anti-drone testing facility in the Gulf. The location has yet to be finalised, but a site in Saudi Arabia is seen as most likely, given the availability of large open spaces away from population centres, which will make it easier to test signal-jamming, directed energy weapons and other electronic warfare methods.

The Abu Dhabi and Dubai ruling families have long been keen buyers of London real estate, but scrutiny of the Panama Papers – the leak of 11.5m files from offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca – and UK Land Registry data reveals the Fujairah ruling family is also very enthusiastic about property in the UK capital. The Panama and UK sources show that Fujairah’s small Al-Sharqi family has spent more than £67m ($97.7m) in or near London in the past eight years.

Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Baghdad on 5 February for talks on energy and security issues. UAE justice minister Abdullah Sultan bin Awad Al-Nuaimi had been in the Iraqi capital on 4 February.  Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal Bin Salman Al-Saud had also been in Iraq on 2 February.

Assayida Ahad Bint Abdullah Hamed Al-Busaidi, wife of Oman's Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said, inaugurated the Ministry of Social Development’s National Autism Centre in Al-Seeb early February. The facility is the first of its kind in the country.

Oman's Crown Prince and culture, sports and youth minister Sayyid Theyazin Bin Haitham Al-Said has been most prominent of late in sporting circles. Theyazin is Sultan Haitham's eldest son. Theyazin's younger brother Bilarab has a lower profile.

The European Parliament voted in January for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) to be designated as a terrorist entity by the European Union (EU), drawing a furious reaction from Tehran.