5 Top Points
- Oman helped mediate release of one French and two Swedish citizens from Iran, including an EU employee.
- Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy met with Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah ahead of the Ukraine Peace Summit.
- Senior officials from Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE participated in the Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland.
- Qatari and the US officials met in Doha to discuss Hamas’ response to the US proposal on a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal.
- UAE’s Foreign Minister toured Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia, UAE’s President attended the G7 Summit in Italy.
‘Round and About the Gulf
Kingdom of Bahrain
Wednesday, 12 June—Bahrain and Qatar will exchange ambassadors for the first time since 2017. King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa appointed Mohammed bin Ali Al-Ghatam as Bahrain’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Qatar, while Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani appointed Sultan Ali Al-Khater as Qatar’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Bahrain.
State of Kuwait
Thursday, 13 June—Kuwait and the US discussed combating illegal financing and money laundering, including the future of digital currencies, during a meeting between Kuwait’s Minister of Finance and State Minister for Economic and Investment Affairs, Anwar Al-Mudhaf, and the visiting US Congressman, French Hill, who serves as Vice-Chair of the House Financial Services Committee.
Sultanate of Oman
Wednesday, 12 June—President Emmanuel Macron thanked Oman for helping to mediate the release of a French citizen, Louis Arnaud, who had been imprisoned in Iran since September 2022 for participation in nationwide protests. Macron also stressed that there are three more French citizens held in Iran and called on Tehran to release them. France said those arrests are equivalent to state hostage taking.
Saturday, 15 June—Oman mediated the release of a Swedish EU employee, Johan Floderus, held in Iran since April 2022, and an Iranian-Swedish citizen, Saeed Azizi, imprisoned since November 2023, in exchange for Sweden’s release of Hamid Noury, a former Iranian prison official arrested at Stockholm airport in November 2019 and sentenced to life in jail over the 1988 prison massacre in Iran. Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, said that Iran had made Floderus and Azizi ‘pawns in a cynical negotiation game’ to get Noury released.
State of Qatar
Wednesday, 12 June—Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, held a joint press conference with US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, following their meeting in Doha, which focused on Hamas’ response to the latest proposal on a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal proposed by the US President at the end of May. Blinken said that Israel accepted the US proposal, which received international endorsement, but Hamas responded two weeks later with demands for more changes, which will now have to be evaluated. Qatar’s Minister said that pressure needs to be on both Israel and Hamas.
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Wednesday, 13 June—The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, plans to invest around $15 billion (around €14 billion) in Brazil, notably in green hydrogen, infrastructure and renewable energy. It was announced by Brazil’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, during the Saudi Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute Priority Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the first one to be held in Latin America.
Friday, 14 June—The annual Hajj pilgrimage officially began in Saudi Arabia. More than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims arrived in the Kingdom. The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims should undertake it at least once if they are able to do so. The Eid Al-Adha celebrations began on 16 June.
United Arab Emirates
Wednesday, 13 June—The AD Ports Group, Abu Dhabi’s port operator, signed a concession agreement with Egypt’s Red Sea Ports Authority to develop, operate and manage three cruise terminals at Safaga, Hurghada, and Sharm El-Sheikh ports in Egypt to boost the tourism sector. The agreement, which includes a total investment of $4.7 million (around €4.4 million) over the next 15 years, aims to make the terminals operational by 2025. The agreement was signed in the presence of Egypt’s Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly.
Friday, 14 June—The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development partnered with Broaden Energy to work on establishing the first hydrogen equipment manufacturing complex in Abu Dhabi worth over AED 1 billion (around €250 million). The facility will support the goals of the Abu Dhabi Industrial Strategy, the UAE National Hydrogen Strategy and the Net Zero 2050 Strategy as the UAE aims to become one of the world’s top 10 producers of green hydrogen by 2031.
EU Corner
Tuesday, 11 June—Faisal bin Abdullah Al-Henzab, Qatar’s Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, participated in the Senior Officials Meeting on Afghanistan, jointly organised by the European External Action Service (EEAS), the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), and the Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA), in Brussels.
Wednesday, 12 June—The Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Enrique Mora, was in Kuwait to co-chair a Kuwaiti-EU political dialogue meeting together with Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
Friday, 14 June—The EU strongly condemned the Houthis’ recent detentions of United Nations’ personnel and staff working for international and national non-governmental organisations and diplomatic missions in Yemen. It urged the Houthis to allow an unimpeded access of humanitarian actors in the country and respect and preserve the safety and security of humanitarian and UN personnel in Yemen. The EU also reiterated its call on the Houthis to stop attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea and stressed its support for Yemen’s unity.
Sunday, 16 June—President of the European Council, Charles Michel, spoke with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud, over phone to review the existing cooperation between the Kingdom and the European Union countries and ways to enhance it.
Key Official Visits & Contacts
Tuesday, 11 June—The 7th round of political consultations between Bahrain and Germany was held in Berlin. The meeting was co-chaired by Abdulla bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry Undersecretary for Political Affairs, and Thomas Bagger, the State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.
Wednesday, 12 June—Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs, met with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg, and Austria’s Chancellor, Karl Nehammer, in Vienna, to discuss opportunities to enhance bilateral cooperation in various sectors, notably in economy, trade, investments, education, culture, energy and climate action.
Wednesday, 12 June—The 4th round of political consultations between Bahrain and Belgium was co-chaired by Bahrain’s Director General of Bilateral Relations at the Foreign Ministry, Abdullah bin Ali Al-Khalifa, and his Belgian counterpart, Jeroen Cooreman. They reviewed ways to enhance bilateral ties in political, economic, cultural, health, security and defence fields, in addition to regional security and the war in Gaza.
Wednesday, 12 June—Bahrain’s Minister of Interior, Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, travelled to Paris for talks with the Chief of Paris Police, Laurent Nunez. The meeting focused on enhancing security cooperation, including in homeland security, civil defence, combating economic crimes, cybercrime and cross-border crimes and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI). The Bahraini Minister also visited the French Ministry of Interior and was briefed on security preparations for the Summer Olympics to be held between 26 July-11 August in Paris.
Wednesday, 12 June—Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, made his third visit to Saudi Arabia since 2023. He met with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud, in Jeddah, to discuss the Russian war in Ukraine and the preparations for the Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland (15-16 June).
Thursday, 13 June—Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs, met with Robert Kaliňák, Slovakia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, and Juraj Blanár, the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, in Bratislava. The meeting focused on bilateral relations and developing cooperation in economy, trade, investments and energy.
Thursday, 13 June—Bahrain’s Undersecretary for Political Affairs at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abdulla bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, received Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis, the EU Operation Commander of EUNAVFOR Aspides, the EU’s naval mission in the Red Sea, and his accompanying delegation. The meeting focused on ways to enhance cooperation between Bahrain and the European Union, emphasising the importance of maintaining regional security and stability and ensuring the freedom of maritime navigation.
Friday, 14 June—UAE’s President, Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, attended the G7 Summit on energy and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Italy, which gathered leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, UK, US with several non-member countries and international organisations, including Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, European Union, India, Jordan, Kenya, Mauritania, Tunisia, Türkiye, the United Nations and Pope Francis. The G7 leaders condemned the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and called on Iran to stop its destabilising actions, among others. Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud apologised for not being able to attend the Summit due to the annual Hajj season.
Friday, 14 June—UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, visited Slovenia, where he met with the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Tanja Fajon, to review opportunities to strengthen bilateral cooperation, including in economic, trade, investment, tourism, energy and climate change fields. They also touched upon the latest developments in the Middle East.
Saturday, 15 June—The Foreign Ministers of Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia — Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud — and the Senior Advisor to UAE’s President, Anwar Mohammed Gargash, participated in the Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland, which aimed to initiate a peace process to end the war in Ukraine. Over 100 countries and international organisations attended, except Russia and China, among others. Around 80 of them signed the final communique, including Qatar, Iraq and Israel, while several countries, such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, did not sign it. The GCC countries’ officials also held several meetings on the sidelines. For example, the Saudi Foreign Minister met with the European Council President, Charles Michel, Norway’s Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, among others.