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Tehran, IRNA – Russian Ambassador to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan said on Saturday that the beginning of Iran’s permanent membership process was the first foreign policy achievement of the Raisi administration.

Dzhagaryan expressed content over the decision made by Shanghai Cooperation Organization leaders to accept Iran’s permanent membership in the regional organization.

He said that this was the first foreign policy achievement of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.

19 Sep 2021; MEMO: Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Iranian fuel shipments imported by the Hezbollah movement constitute a breach of Lebanon's sovereignty, according to comments published by his office, reports Reuters.

"The violation of Lebanon's sovereignty makes me sad," Mikati told CNN in an interview, his office said in a posting on Twitter.

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud arrived here on Saturday on a three-day visit during which he is expected to discuss with Indian leaders the situation in Afghanistan as well ways to boost bilateral ties.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Al Saud will hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday and call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

18 Sep 2021; MEMO: The UK today removed Turkey from its red coronavirus travel list, allowing travel without compulsory hotel quarantine on arrival, and so easing travel and tourism between the two countries, Anadolu Agency reports.

With the latest update, Britain's traffic light system is now scraped and a simpler, "go" and "don't go" system was introduced.

17 Sep 2021; MEMO: In news that is likely to be met in Riyadh with a sense of relief, a potential $500 million military support service for Saudi Arabia has been approved by the US State Department, the Pentagon said yesterday. The agreement has been sent to Congress for review.

The package would provide continued maintenance support services for a wide range of helicopters, including a future fleet of CH-47D Chinook helicopters. The announcement said the vendor was not yet known.

17 Sep 2021; MEMO: With only a month to go until its pandemic-delayed opening, Dubai Expo 2020 has come under fire in Europe, and there is a real possibility that several countries will boycott the five-month long event.

17 Sep 2021; MEMO: Lebanon's energy ministry further raised gasoline prices today, effectively narrowing its fuel subsidy, Reuters reports.

The price of 95-octane gasoline and 98-octane gasoline were raised by more than 37 per cent.

The increase in gasoline prices is to be implemented immediately, an official document showed.

Worsening gasoline shortages across Lebanon have led to hours-long queues to get barely any fuel, with violence sometimes erupting at gas stations.

15 Sep 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has reached out to Israel over the possibility of procuring missile defence systems, according to trade-specific news and analysis magazine Breaking Defence. The Iron Dome manufactured by Israel's defence technology company Rafael and Barak ER produced by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) are two of the options being considered by Riyadh.

Beijing, Sep 17 (AP-PTI) China has applied to join an 11-nation Asia-Pacific free trade group in an effort to increase its influence over international policies.

Commerce Minister Wang Wentao submitted an application to the trade minister of New Zealand as a representative of the Comprehensive and Progress Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Commerce Ministry announced Thursday.

Washington, Sep 17 (AP-PTI) President Joe Biden's decision to form a strategic Indo-Pacific alliance with Australia and Britain to counter China is angering France and the European Union. They're feeling left out and seeing it as a return to the Trump era.

The security initiative, unveiled this week, appears to have brought Biden's summer of love with Europe to an abrupt end. AUKUS, which notably excludes France and the European Union, is just the latest in a series of steps, from Afghanistan to east Asia, that have taken Europe aback.