JERUSALEM: Expanding joint action to counter Iran will top the agenda during US President Joe Biden’s upcoming visit to Israel, Prime Minister Yair Lapid said Sunday, urging a “decisive” response to Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Addressing his second cabinet meeting since taking office on July 1, Lapid called Biden — who is due in Jerusalem on Wednesday — “one of the closest friends that Israel has ever had in American politics.” The visit “will focus first and foremost on the issue of Iran,” said Lapid, who is serving as premier and foreign minister of a caretaker Israeli government until elections scheduled for Nov. 1. According to an International Atomic Energy Agency report that emerged over the weekend, Iran has informed the Vienna-based watchdog about enhancements in its uranium enrichment capacity. “Yesterday, it was revealed that Iran is enriching uranium in advanced centrifuges in complete contravention of the agreements it has signed,” Lapid said Sunday. “The international response needs to be decisive: to return to the UN Security Council and activate the sanctions mechanism at full force,” he added. Israel opposes the restoration of a 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers that offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. The US walked out of the deal in 2018 under then president Donald Trump, who proceeded to reimpose biting sanctions on Tehran. Many in Israel cheered that development, which prompted Iran to step away from many of the nuclear commitments it made under the accord. Negotiations seeking to restore the deal, including indirect talks with the US, took off in Vienna in April last year, but have been at an impasse since March. Beyond Iran’s nuclear program, Israel has sounded growing alarm about Tehran’s support for the Lebanese group Hezbollah. The Jewish state has also accused Iranian agents of plotting to kidnap or kill Israelis in Istanbul. “Israel will not stand idly by while Iran tries to attack us,” Lapid said. “We will discuss with the president and his team expanding security cooperation against all threats.” The White House’s National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Thursday said “greater collaboration” on issues such as air defense, particularly with regards to countering Tehran, would be on Biden’s agenda during the Middle East trip. Biden’s tour also includes a stop in Saudi Arabia.
DHAHRAN: Saudi Aramco has become synonymous with the longstanding partnership between the Kingdom and the US, and is arguably one of the world’s most successful financial collaborations.
The name “Aramco” is an acronym for Arabian-American Company. The pact between the two countries is like sand, consisting of individual particles gathered together in a vast, integrated collective.
To understand the current alliance between the countries through Aramco, requires a look back to the past.
It started in 1933 when Standard Oil of California set up a new overseas exploration unit after signing a concession agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A subsidiary company, the California Arabian Standard Oil Company, was created to manage that agreement.
Ambitious and optimistic, but without any known track record, drilling began in the Saudi desert in 1935. Geologists had a hunch that they would find something there.
At the time, they used to scout areas in the sweltering Dammam heat and use their observation, and often just guestimates, to determine where to drill. They did so on six different occasions, finding nothing but expensive disappointment.
Then, in 1938, American geologist Max Steineke famously told his team to “keep on drilling.” He struck liquid gold on lucky number seven. That first viable oil well was affectionately named Dammam-7, or “Prosperity Well.” It is a name that is often still used fondly in Dhahran, where the Saudi Aramco headquarters is located.
Fast-forward to this century, as the search for oil and gas became more challenging, the company turned to technology and the 2D seismic exploration program in the 1960s. With the advent of computational power from IBM and Cray in the 1990s and early 2000s, Aramco was able to deploy 3D seismic technology.
This allowed geoscientists to more accurately determine drilling locations from 3D images to create more complex and detailed views of the subsurface at depths of several kilometers. This resulted in an ever-increasing need for massive amounts of data like High Channel Count seismic surveys, and the development of advanced and complex computing power to process it all.
In the 1970s, the Saudi government gradually started to buy additional shares of the company, first 25 percent, then 60 percent, until they owned the company completely by 1980. In 1988, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, or Aramco, was born and Ali Al-Naimi famously became the first Saudi president and CEO. Prior to that, all the presidents were American men. Many American expats still call Aramco home, and label its camp “Mini America.”
The company went public and was officially listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) at the end of 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
With increased productivity and world-class technology, the company maintained one foot in America, by way of their subsidiary, Aramco Americas, located in another hot climate in Houston, Texas. Its official website states that it has several core services.
This includes managing a network of three US research centers and technology offices in Houston, Boston, and Detroit. In addition, it is tasked with identifying upstream and downstream technologies, best practices and potential technology partners for Saudi Aramco; and sourcing goods and services, including engineering services. A further task is the recruiting and training of Saudi Aramco-sponsored students and employees in North America.
Today, Aramco Americas wears many hard hats. Within that compound, they publish one of the oldest US-based magazines catering to English readers about the Arab and Muslim world.
Their award-winning, bi-monthly print magazine focuses on creating a cross-cultural understanding between the East and West. Their first issue was published in November 1949 with editors in different parts of the world.
The magazine rebranded as Saudi Aramco World in 2000 and renamed AramcoWorld in 2015. The editorial office settled in Houston in 1987, where it still churns out stories today. Their glossy print pages deliver to interested US addresses and to those Aramcons in Dhahran six times a year.
Constantly evolving, they now have a dedicated smartphone app, and an exhaustive photo archive in which 50,000 images can be searched. The print edition of AramcoWorld’s website states that it has some 35,000 subscribers in more than 125 countries.
Aramco Americas has been looking to diversify from oil and gas and to focus on vital areas such as sustainability and the environment. Recently, it initiated a project funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Coral Reef Conservation, in which efforts are being made to help rescue and rebuild important reefs in US and other coastal areas.
CAIRO: Egypt participated in two forums on sustainable development, the first at the UN headquarters in New York and the other in Indonesia.
It was represented at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2022 in New York by Hala Al-Saeed, the Egyptian minister of planning and economic development.
During one of the forum’s sessions, Al-Saeed reviewed the Egyptian experience in facing the repercussions of COVID-19 and noted the conditions the world was witnessing amid the pandemic, in addition to the current international scene of uncertainty and turmoil in economic activities, saying they had significant implications for countries.
She explained the importance of such discussions to enhance regional and international cooperation on benefiting from knowledge and exchanging best practices for poverty eradication and sustainable development.
She stated Egypt’s keenness to share its successful experience in achieving Sustainable Development Goals, saying the government was working hard on evaluating how to implement its Vision 2030 and speed up its realization.
Al-Saeed told the forum that Egypt had launched the second phase of its Decent Life initiative, the largest development project aimed at creating sustainable rural communities with the participation of all stakeholders.
She said the initiative aimed to improve the standard of living in Egypt’s poorest rural villages by reducing poverty rates and unemployment, and improving the general quality of life.
Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat participated, via video, in the Sustainable Development Forum held by Indonesia in her capacity as the current G20 chair to launch the Global Blended Finance Alliance to push the transition toward renewable energy and the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Al-Mashat said that Egypt, through its presidency of the UN Climate Change Conference COP27, was committed to accelerating the pace of climate action at the levels of energy transition and adaptation, supporting countries' ability to withstand climate change, and pushing the international community to move from climate pledges to implementation.
She added that, through joint initiatives and cooperation, it was possible to share knowledge, expertise, and experience, coordinate efforts to stimulate climate action globally and enhance efforts to achieve sustainable development.
Al-Mashat stressed the importance of benefiting from Egypt's presidency of COP27 and Indonesia's G20 presidency in promoting the process of exchanging knowledge and experience between countries of the global south and accelerating the pace of movement in encouraging international financial institutions and capitals to contribute effectively to achieving development in developing countries and emerging economies.
CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will on Sunday head a large delegation on a two-day visit to Berlin.
Announcing the trip, officials at the German Embassy in Cairo said Egypt’s leader would hold talks with Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and other prominent members of the German government, while also taking part in the Petersburg Climate Dialogue.
In a statement issued by the embassy, German Ambassador to Egypt Frank Hartmann, said: “We are very pleased with the upcoming visit that President El-Sisi will pay to Berlin, because this visit will confirm, once again, the depth of German-Egyptian relations and the common interest of both countries in deepening cooperation in the field of climate protection and stability in the Middle East.”
He noted that discussions would include regional and international issues of mutual concern.
The Petersberg Climate Dialogue event, organized by Germany since 2009, is held to prepare the agenda for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP). Egypt will host the COP27 summit being held later this year in Sharm El-Sheikh.
Hartmann pointed out that El-Sisi’s visit would mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Egypt and Germany.
CAIRO: Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Holguin received Ashraf Abdel Qader Salama, the Egyptian ambassador to Ecuador, at the end of Salama’s term in the country.
Salama expressed his gratitude for the assistance he had received from officials at the ministry of foreign affairs and the government during his stay in Ecuador.
He said there were many cooperation opportunities that should be exploited to strengthen relations between the two countries, especially in tourism, health care, trade exchange and the establishment of special economic zones. He called on Ecuador to take advantage of what a free economic zone could provide for the Suez Canal.
Salama reviewed the initiative of the Egyptian embassy to make Ecuador a center for Egyptian exports to Latin markets, as well as Ecuador benefiting from Egypt’s capabilities and position to re-export its products to African countries, the EU and the Middle East in light of the Ecuadorian government’s policy of opening Ecuador to the world.
Holguin said that his government was working to increase its cooperation with Egypt, especially in Ecuador’s priority areas, such as importing high-quality pharmaceutical products and fertilizers, and benefiting from Egyptian expertise in irrigation.
Holguin said that Ecuador was looking forward to participating in CO27, which will be held next November in Sharm El-Sheikh. He expressed his country’s aspiration to intensify bilateral cooperation with Egypt in all fields during the coming period.
TEHRAN: Iran’s navy on Friday unveiled its first division of ships and submarines capable of carrying armed drones, as US President Joe Biden tours the Middle East. The United States and Israel, the sworn enemies of Iran, have previously accused the Islamic republic of using drones and missiles to attack US forces and Israel-linked ships in the Gulf. “The first drone-carrier division of the Iranian navy consisting of ships and submarine units carrying all types of drone for combat, detection and destruction has been unveiled,” state television said. “All types of the latest advanced drones produced by the military and the defense ministry have flown over the Indian Ocean’s waters to demonstrate their capabilities,” it added, showing images of drones taking off from a naval vessel. The announcement comes as Biden undertakes his first presidential visit to Israel, where he and the Jewish state’s caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday signed a security pact reinforcing their common front against Iran. Biden’s trip also included a presentation of Israel’s “Iron Beam” air defense system, which uses lasers to intercept drones and missiles. “As we are aware of the aggressive attitude in the (United States’) system of domination, it is necessary to increase our defensive capabilities day-by-day,” Iranian army commander Abdolrahim Mousavi said on television. In October 2021, the United States imposed sanctions targeting Iran’s drone program, accusing it of supplying the technology to its allies in the region, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the Houthis of Yemen and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Monday said Iran plans to deliver “hundreds of drones” to Russia to aid its war on Ukraine. In response, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said “there has been no special development in that regard recently,” without specifically mentioning drones. Iran began developing its drone program in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war.