Gulf and Red Sea Regions

Turkey is negotiating with Qatar and Oman to acquire used Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets as part of its effort to bolster its air force capabilities. Following a three-day tour of Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman last week in which he oversaw the signing of several agreements, including in the defense sector, President  Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey aims to purchase dozens of Eurofighters and other advanced jets as a stopgap measure to strengthen its fleet until its domestically developed fifth-generation KAAN fighter jet becomes operational.

"Saudi diplomacy has achieved in 18 months what half a century of summitry and rhetoric failed to deliver'' writes Ali Shihabi in the influential Saudi newspaper, Arab News. "Over the past 18 months, Riyadh has quietly delivered a masterclass in diplomacy, steadily reshaping how Western capitals approach the Palestinian file", the writer says. "The Kingdom has pursued a strategy rooted in hard-nosed pragmatism: Washington’s strategic umbrella over Israel will not fold under fiery speeches or social media storms. Rather than waste energy on theatrics, Saudi Arabia has opted for a patient, cumulative approach — chipping away at Israel’s aura of effortless Western legitimacy until the political calculus inside G7 capitals begins to shift. It may feel slow to the impatient observer, but in a world that rewards persistence over noise, this is how real influence is built." We republish the article in full here.

Today (18 July), Tajikistan and the United Arab Emirates signed an intergovernmental agreement on air transport cooperation, marking a significant development in strengthening ties between Central Asia and the Gulf region.

Hours after US President Donald Trump said his ceasefire had taken effect, Israel said it intercepted two Iranian missiles, with Defence Minister Israel Katz vowing that the military would "respond forcefully". Israel had stated on Tuesday it agreed to Trump's declaration of a ceasefire with Iran, adding that it had achieved all its objectives in the 12-day war with its arch-enemy. According to AFP, Iran denied launching missiles at Israel after the ceasefire announcement, and said it had "compelled" Israel to "unilaterally halt its aggression", while stopping short of officially accepting the ceasefire plan.

Iran  has responded to Israeli attacks on Thursday night, firing missiles at targets in Israel, including in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Both side say that civilians got killed in the attacks. Clouds of war are now gathering across the Middle East  and there is fear that this conflict may expand to other players. The Iranian FARS News agency quoted the new commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as saying that Iran would would take Israel to the gates of hell over the latter’s deadly onslaught against Tehran which led to the death of senior military commanders, including the IRGC own commander, Major General Hossein Salami.