The United Kingdom has convened emergency security talks in response to potential threats against its military bases in Southern Cyprus and Gibraltar, reportedly stemming from heightened tensions with Russia. The threat level at these bases has been assessed as “significant,” indicating that an attack is considered likely.

According to The Telegraph, senior defense officials have engaged in urgent discussions with regional authorities to address these risks. This follows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning that the UK could be targeted in retaliation for Ukraine’s use of British Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

A source familiar with the matter stated, “Southern Cyprus is much more vulnerable to attack. Russia could arm Hezbollah or another proxy group to launch an attack through Iran. One of our biggest concerns is the possibility that the Houthis could be armed to launch an attack due to their proximity to Cyprus.”

The current threat level to British military bases, categorized as “significant,” places it in the middle of the UK’s five-point threat scale. This scale ranges from “low” to “critical,” with a significant level indicating that an attack is highly likely in the near future.

Government sources confirmed that these security reviews are ongoing. However, they emphasized that such discussions are part of routine procedures to assess and enhance security measures.

Tehran has called for negotiations over the disputed gas field between Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. A Riyadh-Tehran rapprochement could help bring the parties to a settlement in the gas field, which has not been shared since the 1960s.

After Iran announced it would drill in the Arash/Durra gas field in the Persian Gulf, Kuwait and then Saudi Arabia claimed that the field belonged to them.

The controversy started when Mohsen Khojestemehr, Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company, announced that “preparations to start drilling in the oil field have been completed.” “The board of directors of the National Oil Company has been allocated a significant amount of resources to implement the development plan for this field,” Khojestemehr said, according to Iranian state media.

Following Iran’s announcement, an anonymous Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry official said that the Arash/Durra Gas Field in the Persian Gulf and its natural wealth, the subject of the dispute with Iran, belongs entirely to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The official called on Iran to sit down with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and start negotiations to define the maritime border between the two countries.

A day later, a similar call came from Saudi Arabia. Riyadh argued that the entire Durra field belongs to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and urged Iran to “sit down at the table”.

The Arash/Durra Gas Field in the Persian Gulf, discovered in 1967, has been causing problems between Iran and Kuwait for years. The Iranian side of the gas field is called Arash, while the Kuwaiti side is known as Durra.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signed an agreement in March 2022 to develop the Durra Gas Field. Iran, on the other hand, argued that the agreement was “illegal” and announced that it would start drilling in the region.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had previously called on Iran to negotiate on this issue, but there was no response from Tehran.

Robin Mills, CEO of Dubai-based Qamar Energy, told The National, “The Saudi-Iran restoration of diplomatic relations included talk of developing joint oil fields. Kuwait has held negotiations with Iran on the border but maintains its position that Al Durra belongs entirely to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia”.

Nora Bakhsh, a researcher on Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, said that the rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia was looking positive so far, but these negotiations are still in the beginning stages and Tehran’s claims to Al Durra could pose additional challenges to them.

Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNA) and Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the armed forces in the east of the country, have reportedly reached a consensus on the formation of a new “Government of Reconciliation”. This agreement was reflected in the meeting of the “6+6” committee formed to prepare the legal framework for the elections in the Moroccan capital, Rabat. The committee agreed on the formation of a joint government to manage the election process.

Cairo-based negotiations between Tripoli and Benghazi have been taking place for a long time. The most important item on the agenda of these talks is to determine the laws that will lead the country to elections. The most important disagreement in this context is the relevant articles that will determine whether Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the armed forces in the east of the country, will be a candidate. It is claimed that a consensus has been reached in the talks deadlocked because the government in Tripoli opposed Haftar’s candidacy. The deal is based on the formation of a joint government that will lead the country to elections. Accordingly, a source close to the Libyan government told AA, “During the negotiations between the delegations of the two sides in the Egyptian capital Cairo, an agreement was reached that the prime minister should be from the west of the country and his deputy from the east.” According to the source, who requested anonymity, according to the agreement between the two sides, GNU Premier Dibeybe will continue to serve as prime minister in the new government in exchange for Haftar’s renunciation of the pressure he exerted to prevent him from participating in the presidential elections. In other words, Dibeybe will not object to the electoral law’s exclusion of articles preventing “dual citizens and soldiers” from running for the presidency, paving the way for Haftar’s presidential candidacy.

The consensus in the informal Cairo-based negotiations was reflected in the talks in Rabat of the UN-supervised “6+6” committee to prepare the legal framework for the elections. According to a Libya Observer briefing last night, the meeting agreed on the rules for the election of the President and members of the National Assembly. Accordingly, they agreed to form a unified government to run the election process.

Consisting of 6 members each from the Libyan Supreme Council of State and the House of Representatives, the Committee for the Electoral Laws started its meetings in Rabat on Monday, May 22, to draft the laws for the elections planned to be held this year.

An anonymous Libyan member of the Committee told AA that logistical issues were discussed during the meeting with the UN Special Envoy to Libya and the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) election official. The member said that issues such as the individual electoral system and electoral lists were discussed during the talks, adding that closed and open lists, the majority system, the seats to be allocated to women and internal migration issues were also discussed in the meeting. The Libyan official noted that the 6+6 committee discussed these issues both among themselves and with the UN official.

The “Constitutional Declaration”, announced after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s rule in Libya (1969-2011), is considered the provisional constitution in the country. The Committee for the Electoral Laws, consisting of 6 members each from the Libyan Supreme State Council and the House of Representatives, is planned to amend Article 13 of the Constitutional Declaration, regarded as the constitutional basis for the elections in the country.

Haftar eliminated Bashagha

On the other hand, it was claimed that Fathi Basaga was suspended from his post since he rejected the reconciliation between Dibeybe and Haftar.

The source who spoke to AA said that Bashagha did not want to take a lower-level post in the new government, “Bashagha refused to be Dibeybe’s deputy. For this reason, Haftar put pressure on the House of Representatives to remove Bashagha.”

In his resignation letter addressed to the Presidency of the House of Representatives in Tobruk on May 16, Bashagha said, “I express that Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Ali Faraj al-Katrani was assigned with all our duties and authorities.” On the same day, in a session held in the House of Representatives in Tobruk, an investigation was launched against Fathi Bashaga, who was elected Prime Minister for the east of the country in February 2022.

Abdullah Bliheg, the House spokesperson, stated in a written statement that “the Parliament voted by majority for the dismissal of Libyan Premier Fathi Bashagha and the opening of an investigation against him on charges of damaging public property” and stated that Osama Hammad, Minister of Finance and Planning, was appointed as acting Prime Minister for the seat vacated by Bashagha.