Uzbekistan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party announced on 7 August it was nominating Shavkat Mirziyoev for a second term as president in the forthcoming October elections. Since coming to power in 2016 Mirziyoev has launched an ambitious reform agenda and has sought to end Uzbekistan's international isolation.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres named Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg as his new Yemen envoy on Friday (6 August).  Grundberg is the fourth UN envoy since the beginning of the civil war in Yemen

Whilst the EU is seen as a valuable partner for Azerbaijan and the South Caucasus, Baku has several concerns over perceived inconsistencies. In this op-ed for commonspace.eu, Vasif Huseynov says Azerbaijan welcomes Brussels playing a more active role in the region but argues that it must maintain balance in its relations with each of the countries.

Several challenges sour the path of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the JCPOA countries. The last round of talks in Vienna concluded on 20 June with all draft deals rejected. Chief US negotiator Robert Maley said that "there is a real risk that they [Iran] are making unrealistic demands about what they can achieve in these talks." 

There is increasing concern among Central Asia states about the situation unfolding in Afghanistan as US troops finalise their withdrawal from the country. Taliban forces have made huge inroads in recent weeks, occupying large swaths of territory previously in the hands of government forces.

Azerbaijan has issued a diplomatic demarche to Russia following an outburst of criticism by Russian maverick politician, Vladimir Zhirinovski. The Russian Charge' d'affairs in Baku was summoned to the foreign ministry on Sunday morning and handed a protest note following comments made on air by Zhirinovski during an interview on July 30 on Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station.