5 Top Points

1. Qatar denounced the assassination of Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh and hosted a funeral prayer attended by Qatari and foreign state officials as well as members of Hamas and PIJ.
2. Oman’s Sultan and British Prime Minister vowed to strengthen bilateral ties during their meeting in London.
3. The UK’s Foreign and Defence Secretaries made their first joint visit to Qatar to push for regional deescalation and vowed to strengthen UK-Qatar security partnership.
4. EU’s Enrique Mora attended the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s President in Tehran.
5. The UAE said it uncovered plans to revive the Muslim Brotherhood in the country.

‘Round and About the Gulf’

Kingdom of Bahrain
Tuesday, 6 August—Winfred Yavi won a gold medal for Bahrain in women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase at the Paris Olympic Games 2024, becoming the third athlete to win a gold for Bahrain at the Olympics. During the race she also set an Olympic record time of 8 minutes 52.76 seconds.

State of Kuwait
Thursday, 1 August—Kuwaiti Defence Ministry Spokesperson, Colonel Hamad Al-Sager, dismissed reports that suggested that Kuwait’s territory was used to launch the recent US airstrikes in Iraq that killed several members of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah, which prompted the militia to issue a warning to Kuwait. The Kuwaiti authorities reiterated that they will not allow Kuwait to be used as launching pads for military attacks on neighbouring countries.

Sultanate of Oman
Tuesday, 6 August—Oman and the United Kingdom pledged to strengthen their 400-year friendship during a meeting between Oman’s Sultan, Haitham bin Tariq Al-Said, and the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, in London. During the meeting, they discussed enhancing bilateral cooperation, notably in trade, defence and security, and urged for deescalation in the Middle East. Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian war, both leaders agreed on the need for a two-state solution through a peace process.

State of Qatar
Wednesday, 31 July—Qatar denounced the killing of the Doha-based Head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, where he was attending the inauguration of the new Iranian President. On 2 August, a day after his body arrived in Doha following funeral processions in Tehran, Qatar hosted funeral prayers for Haniyeh at the Imam Abdul Wahhab Mosque, which were attended by Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, former Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al–Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, as well as foreign officials, notably Turkish Vice President, Cevdet Yilmaz, and Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, Hamas’ senior members, such as Khaled Mashal, Mousa Abu Marzook and Khalil Al-Hayya, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s (PIJ) Secretary General, Ziyad Al-Nakhalah.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Thursday, 1 August—The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, signed six Memoranda of Understanding worth $50 billion (around €46 billion) with several major Chinese financial institutions, including the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), Bank of China (BoC), China Construction Bank (CCB), China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (SINOSURE), Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM), and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

Sunday, 4 August—Saudi Arabia joined Canada, France, Jordan, the UK, US, and other countries in calling on their citizens to leave Lebanon amid growing fears of a war between Israel and Hezbollah.

United Arab Emirates
Wednesday, 31 July—Following the assassination of Hamas’ leader, Ismail Haniyeh, the UAE released a statement saying it is closely following the rapidly-evolving regional developments and expressed its deep concern over the continued escalation and its repercussions on regional security and stability. The UAE called for utmost self-restraint and judgment to mitigate risks and prevent the conflict’s expansion and called for diplomatic resolution of the conflict.

Saturday, 3 August—The UAE said it uncovered plans to revive the Muslim Brotherhood in the country through a new secret organisation formed abroad by fugitive members of the Reform Call Organisation, which is classified as a terrorist organisation in the UAE, with funding from sources within the UAE and from other terrorist groups and organisations outside the country.

EU Corner

Sunday, 4 August—The G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States and the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, held a meeting on the situation in the Middle East. In a joint statement, they expressed deep concern at the heightened tensions in the region and the potential of escalation into a wider conflict and called on ‘all involved parties to refrain from perpetuating the current destructive cycle of retaliatory violence, to lower tensions and engage constructively toward de-escalation.’

Wednesday, 31 July—The Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Enrique Mora, attended the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran on behalf of the European Union. On the sidelines, Mora met with Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s new Foreign Minister and former Chief nuclear negotiator, and said he was happy to recover their contact and was looking forward to working with him again ‘in a new chapter for Iran.’ The European Commission defended the move after several Members of the European Parliament denounced Mora’s presence, stating that he was there to interact with the new Iranian officials and to convey EU positions on issues of concern, namely human rights violations, Iran’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine, arbitrary detentions of EU citizens as well as its backing of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Key Official Visits& Contacts

Wednesday, 31 July—Qatar’s Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, and Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, met in Moscow to discuss the latest developments between Russia and Ukraine and the situation in Gaza.

Wednesday, 31 July—During his visit to Jakarta, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, and Indonesia’s Minister of Trade, Zulkifli Hasan, signed a joint statement to launch negotiations for a GCC-Indonesia Free Trade Agreement. On the occasion, the GCC Secretary General also met with the ASEAN’s Secretary General, Kim Hourn, at the ASEAN headquarters. The same day, the first round of Free Trade Agreement negotiations between the GCC and Türkiye concluded in Ankara.

Wednesday, 31 July—UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, held a phone call with Italy’s Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani. They discussed the two countries’ strategic partnership and the implications of the recent developments in the Middle East on regional security.

Wednesday, 31 July—Following the assassination of Hamas’ political chief, the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, and Defence Secretary, John Healey, travelled to Qatar for their first official joint visit to the Gulf in a bid to advance efforts to end the conflict in Gaza and push for regional deescalation. During their meetings with Qatar’s Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah, the two British Ministers vowed to strengthen and expand the UK-Qatar cooperation on growth and security and reiterated the UK’s support for Qatar’s mediation role to end the war in Gaza.

Wednesday, 31 July—UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new President, Masoud Pezeshkian, with whom he held talks on the occasion. He also met with Iran’s new Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, among other officials. The meeting was attended by UAE’s officials, notably Abdullah bin Touq Al-Marri, Minister of Economy; Mohamed Hassan Al-Suwaidi, Minister of Investment; Khalifa Shaheen Al-Marar, Minister of State; Ali Rashid Al-Nuaimi, Chairman of the Defence, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee at the Federal National Council (FNC). The five other GCC countries also sent delegations to attend the inauguration ceremony.

Thursday, 1 August—Qatar’s Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, and Iran’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Bagheri Kani, spoke over phone about the implications of the assassination of Hamas’ political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.

Thursday, 1 August—UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, held a phone call with US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to discuss the developments in the region, notably the situation in Gaza and Sudan and their humanitarian repercussions. The UAE Minister stressed the need to end extremism and escalating tensions and violence in the region, which threaten peace and security.

Friday, 2 August—Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Expatriates, Badr Abdelatty, telephoned Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, as part of Saudi-Egyptian efforts to preserve regional stability. Abdelatty called on major powers, particularly the US, to assume their responsibilities for halting the heightening of tensions. The Egyptian Minister also praised the efforts by Egypt and Saudi Arabia to settle regional issues and end the Sudanese crisis.

Sunday, 4 August—Undersecretary of Qatar’s Ministry of Interior, Abdullah bin Khalaf Al-Kaabi, and US Ambassador to Qatar, Timmy Davis, signed an agreement to boost US-Qatar security cooperation in Doha.

Tuesday, 6 August—Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud, received a phone call from the French President, Emmanuel Macron, to discuss the importance of regional deescalation.

Tuesday, 6 August—Saudi Arabia prepares to host an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Executive Committee at the level of Foreign Ministers in Jeddah on 7 August, called upon the request of Iran, to discuss regional escalation, notably the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the infringing on Iran’s sovereignty with the assassination of Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.