Helmand Governor Amanuddin Mansour met with UNAMA Deputy Special Representative Bruno Lemarquis and his delegation on Sunday to discuss security, economic development and humanitarian needs in the province.

The meeting at the Helmand Provincial Governor’s Office covered a range of issues, including security and stability, development projects, healthcare, agriculture, alternative livelihoods to poppy cultivation, project funding and markets for agricultural and industrial products.

Mansour briefed the UNAMA delegation on the situation in Helmand and called for greater cooperation to address the needs of local communities and expand development opportunities.

Lemarquis thanked provincial officials for their cooperation and praised what he described as efforts to improve administration, maintain security and stability and prevent corruption.

He said the security situation had created a favourable environment for economic and development activities, while stressing that further work and joint efforts were needed to improve people’s economic conditions.

The UNAMA deputy also highlighted the importance of providing farmers with legal and sustainable alternatives to poppy cultivation, alongside efforts to prevent poppy production.

The two sides discussed mobilising funding for development projects and expanding healthcare services, with Lemarquis calling for stronger coordination between relevant institutions.

The meeting also focused on marketing Helmand’s agricultural and industrial products, including cotton. According to the Helmand Governor’s Office, Uzbekistan has expressed strong interest in purchasing Afghan cotton, making access to foreign markets an important opportunity for farmers and producers in the province.

Members of the UN delegation raised issues and questions concerning different sectors of Helmand and discussed possible solutions with provincial officials.

Mansour responded to the issues raised and outlined the province’s major challenges, needs and proposed solutions. He also called for increased cooperation to expand economic and development projects, improve livelihoods, strengthen healthcare and find markets for agricultural products.

Both sides agreed on the need to continue and strengthen cooperation in support of Helmand’s population and its economic and development priorities.

Lemarquis was accompanied by Susan Ferguson, UN Women’s country representative in Afghanistan; Mihyung Park, head of the International Organization for Migration office in Afghanistan; Polleak Ok Serei, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Afghanistan, as well as representatives from UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency and other officials.

Commodity vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz fell to a single digit per day at the weekend, preliminary shiptracking ​data showed on Monday, well below a 10-day average of ‌14, Reuters reported.

Over the weekend, four vessels exited the Gulf through the strait, including a Handysize vessel sailing in ballast, a Handy vessel carrying LPG, a Supramax carrying ​fertilizer and a Suezmax laden with crude or condensate.

Ten vessels entered ​the Gulf, including a mini-bulker carrying minor bulk commodities, ⁠a Handymax carrying grain, a Panamax carrying metals and a Supramax carrying ​dry bulk cargo, the data showed.

The figures exclude any vessels that might ​have crossed the strait with their Automatic Identification System transponders turned off to avoid detection.

A vessel was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of ​Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said early on Sunday.

It ​said the crew’s status, damage assessment and environmental impact were unknown.

Meanwhile, the vital East-West ‌oil ⁠pipeline in Saudi Arabia, which has helped relieve the logjam in the Strait of Hormuz, was temporarily shut down by a drone attack coming from Iraq, Saudi officials said.

Before the Iran war started on February 28, the ​strait typically handled ​about 125 large, ⁠commercial vessels per day, including tankers, gas carriers, bulkers and container vessels, accounting for some 20% of ​the world’s daily crude oil and liquefied natural gas ​supply, read the report.

A U.S. ⁠blockade of Iran-related shipping has halted Iranian crude oil exports since it was reimposed in mid-July.

In the Bab el-Mandeb strait, 24 and 27 commodity ⁠vessels travelled ​through respectively on Saturday and Sunday, tracking ​data showed, compared with an average of around 27 ships over the last 10 days.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday brushed aside a report that Iran acquired satellite images ​of a base in Jordan from Chinese entities before ‌an attack that killed three U.S. troops there in July, Reuters reported.

A recent report in the Wall Street Journal cited unnamed U.S. officials about the ​attack in Jordan. Asked whether he would mention the ​issue at an upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi ⁠Jinping, Trump did not directly answer, and instead equated the ​surveillance activities of China and the United States.

“They basically do ​what we do,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “When they say China spies on us, I say you’re right and we spy on ​them too.”

The Chinese and U.S. presidents are expected to meet in ​the United States on September 24, although China has yet to officially confirm ‌that ⁠the meeting will take place.

Trump on Sunday reiterated his view that he has a good relationship with Xi.

“I think he’s behaved reasonably well, and we behave reasonably well,” Trump said as ​he flew back ​to the ⁠United States after a weekend trip to Ireland.

The Wall Street Journal report, which Reuters could not ​immediately verify, said the U.S. officials declined to ​identify ⁠the Chinese entities that supplied the imagery to Iran and did not allege direct involvement by Beijing.

Trump’s comments appeared consistent with ⁠the administration’s ​recent efforts to play down wide-ranging ​tensions between Washington and Beijing, despite U.S. frustration over Beijing’s close ties to ​Tehran.