Search results

A senior Iranian security official has threatened to resume bombing of targets in northern Iraq if Baghdad fails to meet a 19 September deadline to halt cross-border attacks by exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition groups.

Some $6bn of Iranian funds that have been frozen in South Korea are expected to be sent to Qatari banks in the coming days, prompting the release of five US citizens held in Iran and the same number of Iranians in American prisons.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stopped in Muscat on 11 September on his way home from the G20 summit in India. Although billed as a "private visit" he arrived with a large delegation and held talks with Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said, covering the Yemen war, Iran and trade.  

With Kuwait's emir regularly out of the country to receive medical treatment, Crown Prince Mishaal Al-Ahmed is overseeing a fragile political system in which ministerial resignations are almost as frequent as clashes between parliament and the executive, and deteriorating public services are undermining public confidence. Inertia and dysfunction have led Kuwait to fall behind its wealthy neighbours to the south, with medicine shortages just the latest indication of an unhappy direction of travel which adds to pressures for an eventual revised social compact to avoid even greater troubles. 

A total of 309 candidates are competing in elections for the Federal National Council (FNC), the UAE's nearest equivalent to a parliament – fewer than in any of the previous four election cycles and significantly less than the 478 people who stood in 2019.

The UAE's early September announcement that it had set up a federal gambling regulator is a further sign of how the competition between regional economies is pushing them to diversify into areas that would previously have been regarded as too sensitive or even taboo.

Iraq's Constitutional Court ruled early September that a maritime border agreement between Kuwait and its northern neighbour was annulled for being 'unconstitutional'. The dispute highlights the fragile Kuwaiti position in a changing region and the reduced status of its foreign policy. 

Inmates at Bahrain's Jau Central Prison halted their hunger strike on the evening of 11 September, amid the deteriorating health of some inmates and a pledge by the authorities to improve conditions within two weeks. More than 800 prisoners had joined the protest, which began on 7 August.

G20 summit: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was a prominent figure at the G20 summit in New Delhi on 9/10 September. He held talks with a series of other leaders, including India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani flew to Guyana on 12 September, meeting President Irfaan Ali and overseeing the signing of economic and legal agreements. Ali was in Doha in May to open an embassy and discuss investment opportunities.

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. 

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. 

Kuwaiti Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah was named president of the Asian Shooting Confederation (ASC) for another four-year term, during a general assembly held in Kuwait early September.

Israeli foreign affairs minister Eli Cohen inaugurated Israel's embassy in Manama early September, during his first visit to Bahrain which came just ahead of the third anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords. 

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his wife Michelle declined to answer questions from federal police about jewellery, watches and other gifts given to them by Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and never declared.