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Export Date: 5 January 2021 Correspondence Address: Mabon, S.; Lancaster UniversityUnited Kingdom; email: S.Mabon@Lancaster.ac.uk Funding text 1: Beyond the enmity directed between these states, COVID-19 appeared to prompt a turn inwards to address domestic challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. Financial challenges brought about by the pandemic placed additional pressures on states and, in turn, raised questions about the articulation of national visions. Responses to the ensuing economic crisis ranged from budget cuts, spending freezes and the provision of financial support to banks and local business (Kozhanov and Zaccara, 2020). While Iran had previously struggled under ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions, Arab Gulf states articulated opulent visions of the future, perhaps none grander than Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and its NEOM project. 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