GCC

Amid increased tension in the Gulf, European countries are closing ranks with allies in the region. The United Kingdom announced it will deploy RAF Typhoon jets to defend Saudi Arabia in response to escalating Houthi missile and drone attacks, the government has said. The defensive mission will help defend Saudi cities and infrastructure - a move authorised by Prime Minister Andy Burnham - against aerial attacks by the Iran-backed group. It follows Houthi attacks on the Saudi capital Riyadh, as well as on energy sites on the country's coast."These aircraft will operate in a defensive role and will not conduct offensive strikes against the Houthis," Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said in a written statement on Tuesday. The news came the same day that the Sultan of Oman started a three day State visit to London. Oman is a long time friend and ally of the UK in the region. Britain’s King Charles III has welcomed Oman’s Sultan, Haitham bin Tariq, for a state visit, praising the Gulf Arab monarch’s efforts to broker peace in the region. Haitham bin Tariq said his country has chosen the path of diplomacy in a region rife with conflict. “In a region that has known too much conflict, Oman has chosen a different path, an independent path,” the Omani ruler said during a state banquet on Tuesday. “Britain has been a friend on this path and has stood beside us in this duty,” he added. King Charles III praised Oman’s peacemaking attempts in the Middle East, paying tribute to Muscat’s “noble efforts” to help reopen the choked Strait of Hormuz. “I would especially like to recognise, at a time when conflict has returned so painfully to the region, Oman’s enduring commitment as a trusted interlocutor to all parties,” Charles told about 160 guests at the lavish dinner. “Oman’s role across the Gulf and her ‘constructive neutrality’, as you put it, matters far beyond Hormuz, and is worthy of our utmost respect,” Britain’s king added in a toast to the Omani sultan. In the meantime French President Emanuel Macron is on a tour in the region, visiting, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE and Qatar. The French leader is hoping to strengthen defence ties and energy supplies amid major disruption to global fuel shipments arising from the US-Israel war on Iran. He has already visited Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of his three-day trip. His next stop is Qatar On the first day of Macron’s trip, France and Kuwait signed eight agreements and cooperation documents covering defence, artificial intelligence, investment and more. Macron then met UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on Monday. The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to advancing cooperation in energy, advanced technology and artificial intelligence (AI). According to the French Foreign Ministry, the UAE is France’s biggest importer in the Gulf, with bilateral trade standing at 10.8 billion euros ($12.1bn) in 2025. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), France supplied 18 percent of the UAE’s arms and defence imports in 2025 – the second highest after the United States, at 42 percent. But this isn’t all about simple trade. Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at King’s College London’s School of Security Studies, explained that Macron’s visit to the region is “symptomatic of a much larger geopolitical transformation”. “We are witnessing the gradual emergence of a post-American Middle East in which Washington remains militarily powerful but increasingly struggles to exercise the political leadership it once enjoyed,” Krieg told Al Jazeera. source: commonspace.eu with agencies

Far-right groups in Georgia rallied in Tbilisi on September 20 against the UAE-based Eagle Hills investment and its planned large-scale developments near Tbilisi and Batumi. Organizers described the demonstration as a protest against “Arab towns” and announced the creation of a “National Unity for the Protection of Georgian Lands” to coordinate opposition to the projects. The initiative plans to bring together political groups, academics, lawyers and economists opposed to the investment. Organizers also announced plans for legal challenges before Georgia’s Constitutional Court, administrative courts and Prosecutor’s Office, alongside further demonstrations. The Eagle Hills project, representing $6.5 billion in real estate, is promoted by the Georgian government as the largest investment in the country’s history. Critics have questioned the agreement’s transparency, financial viability and potential environmental and social effects. Far-right groups have additionally linked the project to fears about immigration and demographic change. Eagle Hills’ project was announced in January 2025 following Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s visit to the United Arab Emirates. Its expansion has since become a focal point for both economic debate and nationalist opposition, with different groups raising distinct concerns about the investment. The governing Georgian Dream party has condemned the protests.