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Several Saudi ruling family members are involved in the food and hospitality sectors, including Prince Saud Bin Abdelaziz Bin Fahd Al-Farhan,  Prince Waleed Bin Nasser Bin Fahd, Prince Abdelaziz Bin Saud Al-Saud and Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (Iriaf) has reportedly received two Russian-made Yakovlev Yak-130 advanced training jets. As yet, however, there is no sign of a promised delivery of Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets making their way to Iran.

US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley was suspended earlier this year due to concerns about his personal conduct, handling of classified information and use of information technology, according to a leaked letter. 

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. 

Emirati Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al-Maktoum was named president of a new medical education body named after his late father, a veteran finance minister who died in 2021. 

A normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia appears to be closer than ever – even though most commentators had long assumed it could not happen while King Salman Bin Abdelaziz was alive. Riyadh seems intent on extracting far more concessions in any deal than the UAE or Bahrain managed with their Abraham Accords, but it remains to be seen if all sides will be able to find a workable compromise.

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.

Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition of her fight for women’s rights. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the award also recognised all those who had demonstrated over the past year against the Iranian regime's oppression of women.

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) agreed a bilateral currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) on 28 September, allowing for the exchange of up to AED5bn and EGP42bn – equivalent in both cases to around $1.4bn – between the two institutions.

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.

Global and regional powers have drawn up a series of plans to develop new trade corridors through Gulf countries over recent years, with the latest emerging at the G20 summit in India which will pass through the UAE, Saudi Arabia and on to Jordan and Israel. The ambitious plan could take decades to realise and will face competition from rival schemes backed by Iran, Iraq, Russia and Turkey. 

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani laid the foundation stone of the North Field Expansion Project in Ras Laffan early October. The project will raise Qatar's liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity from 77m t/yr to 126m t/yr by 2026. 

Saudi Arabia announced that it would bid to host the 2034 Fifa World Cup, soon after football’s world governing body had set out the timetable for the process. It faces a rival bid from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.