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Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani made a two-day trip to Moscow in late March, labelled a ‘working visit’. The agenda included talks with President Vladimir Putin on Palestine, Syria, Yemen and other conflicts in the Middle East.

Iran has again been agitating over the disputed islands of Abu Musa, Greater and Lesser Tunbs, which lie in the Strait of Hormuz and are also claimed by the UAE. On 4 November, according to Iranian news reports, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) inaugurated a naval base in the city of Bandar Lengeh, in the southern province of Hormozgan, north of the islands.

Sharjah-based port management and logistics company Gulftainer has bought a 51% stake in Saudi Arabia’s Gulf Stevedoring Contracting Company. In a statement on 23 June, Gulftainer said the acquisition had allowed it to assume full management of three Saudi terminals in Jeddah and Jubail. On the west coast, Gulftainer will operate the Northern Container Terminal at the Jeddah Islamic Port, and on the east coast, it will operate Jubail Commercial Port and Jubail Industrial Port.

KAF Apache support deal for DynCorp BAE Systems in Eurofighter Typhoon talks with Oman. Qatar-India defence co-operation

Transparency International (TI)’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) makes gloomy reading, observing that “despite the political changes that shook the Arab region six years ago, the hope for Arab countries to fight corruption and end impunity has not seen any progress yet. On the contrary, the majority of Arab countries have failed to fulfil the will of the people to build democratic systems allowing for greater transparency and accountability.”The CPI, released in late January, scores and ranks 183 countries based on how corrupt a country’s public sector is perceived to be.

Doha established formal diplomatic relations with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at a signing ceremony on 6 November at the United Nations in New York. The agreement was signed by Qatar’s ambassador to the UN Sheikha Alya Ahmed Bin Saif Al-Thani and her counterpart Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta.

Politics: Al-Thanis have ruled since the mid-19th century, reinforced by British recognition of their right to govern. 25 years after independence in 1971, the peninsula gained hugely in power, confidence and wealth with ‘Father Emir’ Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani’s drive to develop gas reserves. The population has boomed, from around 111,000 in 1970 to 2.2m-plus today (85%-90% expatriate), almost exclusively concentrated in Doha. Between 1995 and 2013, Sheikh Hamad and prime minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim remodelled Qatar as an ultra-modern independent-minded city state, funded by extreme wealth.

Having repeatedly denied accusations it has been funding the Sunni insurgency in Iraq, Saudi Arabia announced on 1 July it was sending $500m in humanitarian aid to Iraqis. A statement on state news agency SPA quoted an official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz had ordered the money to go to “the brotherly Iraqi people affected by tragic events, including displaced people, regardless of their religious, doctrinal or ethnic affiliations”. The money – which eclipses the $312m the United Nations (UN) recently appealed for – will be channelled through the UN.

In a further sign of Tehran’s strategy of projecting power further from its borders, Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (Nedaja) commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari has said it plans to cross the Atlantic ocean. “Until ten years ago, Iran’s navy was deployed only in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz but today has increased its mission… Without doubt crossing the Atlantic ocean is on the agenda,” he said, in remarks carried by the Iranian Students’ News Agency.

The role of the anti-Qadhafi camp’s most prominent Arab supporters is likely to come under new scrutiny, as sources suggest that Abu Dhabi could play a big role in helping the Benghazi rebels to resume oil production

A group of eight countries led by Saudi Arabia have signed a founding charter for the Council of Arab and African Coastal States of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, cementing an initiative that was launched in late 2018. The other founding members are Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Jordan, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The new body will seek to enhance co-operation in sectors including maritime transport.

Emir Sheikh Tamim made a two-day visit to Ethiopia in early April, his first since becoming ruler. He held talks with President Mulatu Teshome and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. Qatar has traditionally been close to Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki, who has been a frequent visitor to Doha. These relations have caused diplomatic tensions with Ethiopia in the past; in 2008, Ethiopia broke off ties, accusing Doha of supporting extremism in the Horn of Africa. Relations were mended only a few years ago.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Company (KGL) has signed a logistics deal worth up to $1.38bn with the US Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency. KGL’s 99%-owned subsidiary KGL Catering Company will provide food and logistics services for more than 20,000 US military personnel stationed in Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan as part of a 24-month contract, which is renewable for up to 60 months.

Even before the disaster in Mecca that killed at least 769 people on 24 September, a “definite sense of disquiet” was apparent across Saudi Arabia, as one analyst based in the kingdom put it. A variety of sources have spoken to GSN about growing unease among Saudis over the military intervention in Yemen and a perceived lack of urgency in tackling the dual challenges of Islamic State (IS, or Daesh) and low oil prices. While many in the kingdom will agree with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdelaziz Bin Abdullah Al Al-Sheikh’s view that the stampede of Hajj pilgrims was “beyond human control”, many Saudis are apprehensive about wider political developments during 2015.

The Iraqi government condemned “in the strongest possible terms” a Turkish drone strike on a refugee camp near Makhmur on 15 April, in which two women died and at least four others were injured. The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the action by Ankara violated its sovereignty and represented a “grave violation of international humanitarian law”.