given Egypt’s much-savored relationship with other Gulf countries (not to mention the United States)

given Egypt’s much-savored relationship with other Gulf countries (not to mention the United States). It does represent a re-balancing of relationships in a changing Middle East nonetheless. A new round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 (five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany) has now been scheduled to take place on February 26" following weeks of conflicting reports and what seemed to be a diplomatic stalemate. This represents the first effort at talks at the political directors’ level since the Moscow meeting in June of 2012. While the talks are restarting just over a month after the start of US President Obama’s second term, Iran appears to have moved into its political season: tensions between President Ahmadinejad and the speaker of the Majlis, Larjani, have gone public with mutual recriminations about corrupt family members and associates. Saudi Arabia: Former intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz was appointed second deputy prime minister of Saudi Arabia on February 2", a role traditionally associated with the incumbent being second in line to become king. Prince Muarin is the youngest son of the kingdom’s founder. Yemen: A UN Security Council delegation visited Yemen on January 27" in a show of support to President Hadi and Yemen’s political transition. The visit reflects the Security Council’s interest in seeing Yemen move forward with the National Dialogue Conference. During the visit there were large demonstrations, as thousands demanded a fair and just approach in dealing with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has received immunity under the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative. De ee ee ee ee ee ee ee i ee a The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee. It is the property of Jeffrey Epstein Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or by e-mail to [email protected], and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_029691