RIYADH, 16 November 2021, (TON): Saudi Arabia’s Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif received Bandar Mohammed Al-Atiyyah, Qatar’s ambassador to the Kingdom, in Riyadh.

During the meeting, they discussed issues of common interest.

Prince Abdulaziz said in Manama “security and stability in Gulf states sets a good example on confronting terrorism, crime, and everything that disturbs the security and safety of citizens and residents.”

The minister compared the current situation, a product of regional assistant and support, with the previous deteriorating conditions of some countries that had lost the most basic elements of security and stability.

WASHINGTON, 16 November 2021, (TON): The Pentagon accused Iran of “unsafe and unprofessional” conduct by a naval helicopter that it said flew within about 25 yards of a US Navy ship and circled it three times in the Gulf of Oman.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said “the Iranian helicopter circled the USS Essex, an amphibious assault ship, three times and at one point flew as low as 10 feet off the surface of the water.”

He said “the incident on Nov. 11 had no effect on the Essex’s operations.”

Kirby said “without getting into specifics, the crew of the Essex took the appropriate force protection measures they felt that they needed to, and they acted in accordance with international law.”

The US Navy periodically has reported what it characterizes as unsafe and unprofessional encounters with Iran naval forces in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

KIEV, 16 November 2021, (TON): Ukrainian edition of ZN.UA reported “the Ukrainian authorities have asked the United States to provide anti-ship missiles “Harpoon”.

“According to ZN.UA, the Ukrainian authorities have asked the United States to supply Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Harpoon is an anti-ship missile developed and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, now Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

Standoff Land Attack Missile SLAM missile is a variant of a ground attack, “the newspaper says on its website.

It is noted that the missile can be launched from a fixed-wing aircraft, from a ship, a submarine and a coastal defense battery.

TEHRAN, 16 November 2021, (TON): Tehran said “Iran has invited the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency for talks after the UN official expressed concern over a lack of contact with Iranian authorities.”

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi “has been invited” to Tehran and a visit date has been put forward, foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, without providing specifics on the possible timing of the trip.

Grossi is expected to meet with Iran’s foreign minister and the country’s atomic energy chief, Khatibzadeh told journalists, adding, “we await his response”.

He said “Grossi had been hoping to visit Iran before the next meeting of the IAEA’s Board of Governors starts on November 22, but on Friday described a lack of contact with the Iranian government as “astonishing”. “There’s a long list of things we need to discuss.”

Grossi last visited Tehran in September, where he clinched a deal over access to surveillance equipment at Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Days after that visit, the IAEA complained that it had been denied “indispensable” access to a centrifuge component manufacturing workshop where it needed to service equipment.

The invitation comes as talks are expected to resume on November 29 in Vienna aiming to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. The deal, which offered Tehran relief from sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, was torpedoed when the US unilaterally pulled out in 2018.

WASHINGTON, 16 November 2021, (TON): A senior US administration official said “US President Joe Biden will tell Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a virtual meeting on Monday meant to reduce the chances of a superpower conflict that China must "play by the rules of the road" like a responsible nation.”

The video dialogue, initiated by Biden and expected by the United States to run for several hours on Monday evening, will be about setting terms for future US-China competition, the official told reporters.

Both sides hope the most extensive talks between the leaders since Biden became president in January will make the relationship less acrimonious.

The US official told reporters "this is an opportunity for President Biden to tell President Xi directly that he expects him to play by the rules of the road, which is what other responsible nations do," citing a litany of U.S. concerns, including China's economic "coercion" of U.S. allies and alleged human rights abuses.

Biden is focused on writing those rules "in a way that is favorable to our interests and our values and those of our allies and partners", the official said, adding that talks with China must be "substantive and not symbolic".

The official added "this is not a meeting where we expect deliverables to be coming out.”

ABU DHABI, 16 November 2021, (TON): The UAE, one of the world’s top crude exporters, said a recent UN climate summit in Glasgow was a “success” but that the world needs to keep investing billions in oil and gas.

Nearly 200 countries at the COP26 summit pledged Saturday to speed up the fight against rising temperatures, after two weeks of negotiations.

But they failed to secure a consensus to keep coal in the ground, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that “climate catastrophe” is still knocking at the door.

The summit “was indeed a success”, said Sultan al-Jaber, the UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology.

But he forecast that the oil and gas industry would have to invest “over $600 billion every year until 2030 just to keep up with the expected demand”.

“While the world has agreed to accelerate the energy transition, it is still heavily reliant on oil and gas,” he told the opening session of the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference.

“As economies bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic at the fastest rate in 50 years, demand has outpaced supply.”

Both the United Arab Emirates and neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world’s number one oil exporter, have announced net-zero carbon goals, despite plans to ramp up oil production.

BRUSSELS, 16 November 2021, (TON): France's foreign minister said “the European Union agreed to draft a list of possible sanctions on Russian mercenaries who could be deployed to West Africa's Sahel region.”

Reuters reported in September that Mali's military junta was in discussions about deploying Russia's Wagner Group in Mali, which France says is not acceptable because it has its own troops in the region.

Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters "there's a common will to decide a legal framework for sanctions that will be put on the Wagner Group.”

In order to avoid a lengthy legal procedure, any such sanctions will likely be within existing EU sanctions rules. Diplomats supportive of the French calls told Reuters on Friday that it would take some time to gather evidence so that the asset freezes and travel bans would not be overturned in court.

Le Drian said any sanctions would also be imposed on companies working with the Wagner Group.

French officials say the junta is turning to Wagner as part of efforts to cling to power beyond a transition period due to end after the Feb. 27 presidential and legislative elections.

WASHINGTON, 16 November 2021, (TON): State Department said “the US has not made any decision yet on a potential waiver for India after it began receiving deliveries of an advanced surface-to-air missile system from Russia.”

The deliveries risk sanctions under the 2017 Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which authorises economic penalties on entities that purchase arms from Russia's defence industry.

A State Department spokesperson said on condition of anonymity that the Biden administration has not yet made a determination "on a potential waiver with respect to Indian arms transactions with Russia," further maintaining that CAATSA "does not have a blanket or country-specific waiver provision."

The spokesperson said "we urge all of our allies and partners to forgo transactions with Russia that risk triggering sanctions under the" act.”

The spokesperson added "the U.S.-India defence partnership has expanded significantly in recent years, commensurate with India’s status as a Major Defence Partner. We expect this strong momentum in our defence partnership to continue. We value our strategic partnership with India.”

A Russian official confirmed on Sunday that Moscow has started supplying the S-400 air defence system to India.

KABUL, 16 November 2021, (TON): Officials of the Passport Directorate said that they will start the issuance of passports in Balkh, Paktia, Kandahar, Kunduz, Herat, Nangarhar, and Khost provinces.

Head of the Directorate Alam Gul Haqqani said that the decision was made by the ministry of interior affairs in order to further facilitate the process for those who apply for passports.

Alam Gul Haqqani said that priority will be given to those who have already filled online form for the passports.

Haqqani said “the passports will be issued based on the e-ID or the previous IDs that are verified officially. The rumors about lack of passport are not true.”

Haqqani added that there are 900,000 passports in the directorate, 600,000 passports with the company responsible for their printing, one million passports are in the process of printing, and one and a half million more are going to be printed.

DHAKA, 16 November 2021, (TON): He stresses enhanced cooperation among aid agencies to ensure more effective humanitarian services at Rohingya camps.

Turkey's Ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan has said that his country will continue its humanitarian support for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh till their peaceful return to their home country Myanmar.

The Turkish envoy was speaking during his two-day visit to Cox’s Bazar.

Turan said “Turkey had always been supportive in reducing the sufferings of the Rohingya since the very beginning of the crisis, according to the Turkish Embassy.”

He added "we, along with the UN and other concerned authorities, have been working for a peaceful and dignified repatriation of the Rohingya.”

The envoy was greeted by the Rohingya who expressed their gratitude to the Turkish people and their government for their support.

The ambassador was accompanied by Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) Shah Rezwan Hayat and additional commissioner of the institute Mohammad Shamsud Douza during the tour.

Hayat said, reports Anadolu Agency “our main goal is to repatriate them (Rohingya) to their home country of Myanmar as soon as possible and in this regard, we expect very strong support from Turkey.”