Media reports this week highlighted how the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islah Party in Yemen has been handing over positions to Iran-backed Houthi rebels in a new obstacle to ending the war in the country that has now lasted for seven years since (...)
UN new Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg was greeted with a series of escalations in the conflict in the country this week, as the fighting continued both domestically and through attacks on neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
Grundberg, who assumed his new role (...)
With the new, chaotic developments in Afghanistan and a new administration gaining parliamentary endorsement in Iran, the Gulf took quick measures to achieve reconciliation. Only days before a regional summit in Baghdad, the UAE's National Security (...)
Americans are praising Gulf countries; especially Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain for agreeing to host Afghan evacuees temporarily – until Washington finds a way to settle them somewhere. So far, Qatar will host 8000 and the UAE 5000. Kuwait and (...)
After a long delay, Qatar is expected to hold its first parliamentary election in October. By the end of last month, the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani had approved the laws governing the election of two-thirds of the advisory Shura (...)
While the Gulf media – Saudi outlets in particular – have focused on Tehran protests calling for the downfall of the regime, the Iranian media is talking about an imminent breakthrough in Saudi-Iranian relations.
An invitation was extended to Saudi (...)
On his first foreign trip since his enthronement last year, the Sultan of Oman Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said landed in Neom – northwest of Saudi Arabia – on Sunday. This is also the first visit by an Omani ruler to Saudi Arabia in many years.
All (...)
Yemen is witnessing escalation on all fronts despite reports of an imminent peace deal. Last week, fighting flared up in oil-rich Maarib as the Houthi militia launched a three-pronged attack on the government forces controlling the region. The (...)
A few days ago the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the Biden administration was "sharply reducing the number of US antimissile systems in the Middle East in a major realignment of its military footprint there". Gulf and US officials (...)
For the second year in a row, millions of Muslims around the world will miss out on the fifth pillar of their faith: Hajj, or the Pilgrimage to the Kaaba, which a practising Muslim who is able to is required to visit at least once in a lifetime. The (...)
The Gulf countries welcomed Egyptian efforts to start reconstruction in the Gaza Strip after the 11-day conflict with Israel, which left the Palestinian enclave devastated. Last week, Egyptian bulldozers, cranes and trucks moved through the Rafah (...)
By the end of last month the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had started "logistical flights" to support the France-led international alliance efforts in "combating terrorism along the African Sahel region", according to an announcement by the Emirates' (...)
When Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian families in an attempt to evict them from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem earlier this month, this was the culmination of weeks of tension. No strong reaction to the Palestinian families' (...)
Marking five years since the launch of his modernisation campaign, Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman gave a lengthy interview to a Saudi satellite channel, reviewing what had been achieved and describing future moves. Bold reforms in Saudi (...)
Despite its rhetoric about "ending the war in Yemen", the Iran-backed rebel Houthi militia this week launched a concerted attack on southern Saudi Arabia, with the coalition fighting on behalf of the legitimate government announcing that it (...)
Hours after the first round of talks to revive Iran's nuclear deal started in Vienna last week, TV cameras attended a ceremony at the Natanz uranium-enrichment plant in Iran to witness the announcement of an increase in the use of advanced (...)
International and regional concerns about developments in Jordan receded by midweek, after reconciliation in the Royal Family ended with the former crown-prince vowing allegiance to the king and constitution.
This was the result of mediation by a (...)
The Omani capital Muscat has been busy with diplomatic traffic aimed at finding a way to end the six-year war in Yemen. Both UN Envoy Martin Griffiths and US Special Envoy Tim Lenderking have been shuttling between Muscat, Riyadh and Aden since (...)
Syria has dominated the Gulf foreign policy scene in the last two weeks. This month marks the start of the Syrian Civil War a decade ago, and the latest relevant diplomatic manoeuvre was a visit to the Sultanate of Oman by Syrian Minister of Foreign (...)
Judging by media reactions in the Gulf, the hype about restoring warm relations between Turkey and the Gulf countries is winding down. This week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his "regret" that Saudi transport aircrafts and six (...)
Oil prices shot up to over $70 a barrel following multiple attacks on Saudi oil facilities in the east of the kingdom at the start of the week. The Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen, after weeks of intensified drone and missile attacks, claimed (...)
The Omani capital Muscat has been the target of various Gulf diplomatic efforts over the last few weeks in relation to the conflict in Yemen.
Though Oman has been trying to keep to the same line of “quiet neutrality” on regional issues inherited (...)
Earlier this month, the US news agency Bloomberg carried a report entitled “Gulf Reaches Out to Erdogan in Wary Move to Ease Tensions” quoting anonymous sources in the region and indicating some kind of potential Gulf-Turkey rapprochement. Though no (...)
Sweden and Switzerland will be hosting a virtual fundraising event for Yemen's humanitarian crisis early next month, but it is not clear if the event is being coordinated with other parties. The new US Special Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking, (...)
A political settlement of the Yemen crisis seemed more plausible than ever last week when American President Joe Biden outlined his administration's foreign policy. In a speech at the State Department in Washington, Biden said, “This war has to (...)
