NEW YORK: The UN Security Council on Wednesday welcomed the fact that legislative elections in Lebanon went ahead as planned on May 15, "despite difficult circumstances", but called for the rapid formation of a new government inclusive and to the "urgent implementation" of the economic reforms described above.In a joint statement, members of the Council said reforms should include the adoption of an "appropriate" national budget for 2022 that will enable the rapid implementation of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "to meet the demands of the Lebanese population".The country's economy has been mired since August 2019 in a crippling crisis in which the Lebanese pound lost more than 90% of its value and more than three-quarters of the population fell into poverty.Last month, Lebanon and the IMF reached an agreement on a plan that could unlock around $3 billion (1 dollar = 0.94 euro) in international financing over several years.However, the agreement is subject to the approval of the management and the Executive Board of the IMF and is dependent on the implementation by the Lebanese authorities of a series of economic reforms, including the restructuring of the country's banking sector. , which collapsed, improving transparency and unifying the multiple exchange rates that apply to a soaring national currency.The Security Council underlined the role that the Lebanese institutions, including the newly elected Parliament, have to play in the implementation of these necessary reforms and stressed the importance of carrying them out "to ensure international support efficient".Members also called for steps to be taken to strengthen the “full, equal and meaningful participation and representation” of women in Lebanese institutions, including in the new government.“These elections were essential to enable the Lebanese people to exercise their civil and political rights,” the Council members said.The latter reaffirmed the need to “quickly conclude an independent, impartial, thorough and transparent investigation” into the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, which left more than two hundred dead, thousands injured as well as displaced many and caused billions of dollars in property damage.The council said the investigation was "essential to meet the legitimate aspirations of the Lebanese people for accountability and justice."Members also urged all Lebanese parties to implement a tangible policy of "distancing from any external conflict, an important priority, as stated in previous declarations, in particular the 2012 Baabda Declaration".The Iran-backed Hezbollah party has sent militants to Syria to fight alongside Assad regime forces.This text is the translation of an article published on Arabnews.comJEDDAH: To meet the growing demand for fresh water in Saudi Arabia, authorities have launched a project that will alter the structure of clouds to increase rainfall, a technique known as "cloud seeding".With long-term average rainfall of less than 100 mm per year, a growing population and a growing agricultural sector, there is an immense need for fresh water in Saudi Arabia.This is why the Kingdom launched in early April the first phase of a cloud seeding program aimed at altering the amount and type of precipitation in the country.After the plan was approved by the Saudi government, a plane flew over the vast rocky plateau of Najd in the central region of the Kingdom, where it released plumes of silver iodide into the clouds.This caused ice crystals to form in these clouds, stimulating rainfall over the targeted areas.The process has started in the Riyadh region and will soon spread to other areas, to Asir, Baha and Taif."The Kingdom is considered one of the countries with the lowest rainfall, with an average of 100 mm per year," said Ayman Ghulam, director general of the National Meteorological Center, at a conference in Riyadh in march.“Cloud seeding is one of the most promising solutions for Saudi Arabia.”The national artificial rain program is expected to continue for five years, to increase rainfall by 20%.It is part of the Saudi Green Initiative, launched in March 2021 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to promote sustainable development and environmental preservation, as well as to secure natural water sources in the Kingdom.Roelof Bruintjes, who heads the weather modification group at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, said the Kingdom uses a well-established method of cloud seeding that is safe for the environment.The two seeding agents used in the Saudi operation are hygroscopic materials (i.e. substances that tend to absorb moisture from the air) such as salts and silver iodide .They are used in such low concentrations that they are largely undetectable and have been used for almost forty years in cloud seeding projects in the drought-prone western United States.The success of cloud seeding operations, Bruintjes said, depends to some extent on the characteristics of the clouds themselves."No cloud is the same as another," he told Arab News.“In Saudi Arabia, most of the clouds that form in the central and southwestern region are more convective cloud types.In this way, we mainly use hygroscopic cells to create larger droplets so that they can more easily collide with each other and hold the rain, so that more water can be obtained, which is processed in the cloud up to the surface," he explains."It's mainly about trying to get more water from the clouds to increase the percentage of water the clouds process coming down to the surface."Water covers about 71% of the Earth's surface, but the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has very few of these resources necessary for life.According to the UN, it is the most water-scarce region in the world, with 17 countries considered below the water poverty line.The situation is aggravated by rapid population growth, insufficient infrastructure and the overexploitation of limited resources.Agriculture alone accounts for around 80% of water consumption in the Mena region, according to the World Bank.DUBAI: The United States has called a network run by the Al-Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) an “international oil smuggling and money laundering network”.According to a statement released by the US Treasury Department on Wednesday, officials facilitated the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars of Iranian oil for the Al-Quds Force and Hezbollah.This network was a vital part of Iran's oil revenue and supported its armed proxy groups that continue to "perpetuate conflict and suffering throughout the region."Treasury Department Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson assured that the United States will continue to strictly enforce sanctions against the illicit Iranian oil trade.He added that similar sanctions would be imposed on anyone buying oil from Iran.Washington-based MENA expert and consultant Ruwan al-Rejoleh calls the sanctions an “important step.”“Backed by Hezbollah, this oil network has been allowed to operate freely for too long.This is an important step, but the administration must continue to ward off Hezbollah and its allies,” she said."Hezbollah, which controls the Lebanese Ministry of Energy, has recently taken advantage of Lebanon's energy problems to secure preferential access to the Lebanese market for their masters in Tehran."She recalled that the departure of Sonatrach, an Algerian public company which was responsible for sending fuel oil to Lebanon, had "exacerbated the country's already overwhelming energy problems".The Attorney General of Mount Lebanon, Ghada Aoun, had launched politically motivated procedures against Sonatrach, thus causing the Algerians to leave, she added.“Hezbollah took advantage of this chaos to allow Iran access to the energy market in Beirut.”This text is the translation of an article published on Arabnews.comTEHRAN: Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, announced on Friday that they had seized two Greek oil tankers in Gulf waters, shortly after protesting Greece's seizure of a vessel carrying Iranian oil.The Greek Foreign Ministry denounced in a press release acts "akin to piracy" and called on Greek citizens to avoid traveling to Iran.The Revolutionary Guards said their naval forces "seized two Greek oil tankers in the Persian Gulf today due to violations they committed", according to a statement posted on their website, without giving further details.The Greek ministry claimed Iranian navy helicopters airlifted gunmen aboard the two tankers.One of them, the Delta Poseidon, was then sailing in international waters, he said.The second, which has not been named, was near the Iranian coast, according to the same source.The Greek ministry said nine Greeks are part of the crews of the two ships, but declined to give the total number of sailors on board.Athens informed the European Union and the International Maritime Organization of the incident, he added.Earlier Friday, Iran had again called for "immediately lifting" the seizure of a ship carrying Iranian oil held since mid-April by Greece at the request of the United States.Under European sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine, the Greek authorities on April 19 seized the Russian oil tanker Pegas, renamed Lana a few days later, off the island of Euboea.According to reports at the time, the tanker was carrying 115,000 tons of Iranian oil.On Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the Greek port police told AFP that this oil would be "transferred to the United States (...) following a request from American justice".Iran's foreign ministry on Friday summoned the Swiss charge d'affaires, who represents US interests due to the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Washington and Tehran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.Tehran accuses Washington of "clear violation of maritime law and international conventions" and calls for "immediately lifting the seizure of the ship and its cargo", according to a press release published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Iran reiterated its opposition to "the pressure and intervention of the US government" which led to the seizure of the ship, which Tehran considers to be under the "sovereignty of the Islamic Republic".But according to documents in the hands of the Greek Coast Guard, the tanker is still under the Russian flag.A source within the Greek Coast Guard told AFP that the transfer of the oil to a vessel flying the flag of Liberia began on Thursday and would "take a few days".The incidents come as negotiations between Iran and world powers to restore the nuclear deal have stalled since March.One of the main sticking points is Tehran's request to remove the Guardians from the US blacklist of "terrorist organizations", a request that Washington has rejected.