Kuwait:

Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah died on Saturday at the age of 86, just three years after taking power in the US-allied Gulf oil-producing country, according to the royal court.

The cause of his death was not immediately disclosed. Amir was hospitalized late last month with what the state news agency described at the time as a health emergency, but said his condition was stable.

Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, 83, who has been Kuwait’s de facto ruler since 2021 when the weakened emir handed over most of his duties, is the designated successor.

Sheikh Nawaf became emir in September 2020 following the death of his brother Sheikh Sabah, who ruled for more than a decade and shaped the kingdom’s foreign policy for more than 50 years.

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Sheikh Nawaf was seen by diplomats as a consensus builder, even though his reign was marked by an intense standoff between the government and the elected parliament, which has hindered major structural reforms in the oil-rich Gulf state. A consensus was reached between the government and parliament in recent months.

Kuwait, holder of the world’s seventh-largest oil reserves, is located on the border with Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and across the Gulf from Iran.

Since assuming power in 2020, Sheikh Nawaf has maintained a foreign policy that balanced relations with those neighbors while domestically, with eight governments forming under his rule.

Under Kuwait’s constitution, the Crown Prince automatically becomes Emir but assumes power only after being sworn in by Parliament. The new emir has up to a year to name a successor.