Gulf and Red Sea Regions

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the transfer of 4 percent of the Saudi oil giant Aramco’s, shares to the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. The transferred share are valued up to $80 billion. The move is another step by the Kingdom to diversify the economy and move it away from dependency on oil. 

The visit of Recip Tayip Erdogan to Abu Dhabi marks the end of a period of rivalry and opens the prospects of serious co-operation that can be a game-changer in settings across the region.

The talks on the Iran nuclear file in Vienna have stopped for a short break. A statement by the European External Action Service on Friday (28 January) said that "the 8th round of negotiations in Vienna in the framework of the JCPOA will take a break. Participants will go back to capitals for consultations with their respective governments. The talks will reconvene next week." Media reports however suggest their is a split in the US delegation on the next steps. 

Russia this week rolled out the red carpet for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. His visit included a rare invitation to address the State Duma, as well as a long meeting with president Putin. Raisi gave Putin the draft of "a document on strategic cooperation between our two countries" which he said can determine or at least clarify the co-operation between the two countries for the next two decades.

The Iranian, Chinese and Russian navies will begin joint naval manoeuvres in the northern Indian Ocean waters on January 21, the semi official Iranian news agency ISNA reported on Thursday (20 January), citing the Iranian army’s press office.

There has been widespread international condemnation of a drone attack on Abu Dhabi International Airport. The Yemeni Houthi Group, which is backed by Iran, has claimed responsibility for the attack which killed three persons. The attack on the airport of the UAE capital is seen as a serious escalation of the ongoing conflict in Yemen where a regional coalition including Saudi Arabia and the UAE is assisting the internationally recognised government of Yemen in its efforts to regain control of the country from the Houthi movement which seized the capital and large swats of the country in 2015.