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Qatar, Iran Hold Joint Coast Guard Meeting to Boost Field Cooperation

Dhows, traditional sailing vessels, with Qatar flags anchored in Doha [Getty Images]
Dhows, traditional sailing vessels, with Qatar flags anchored in Doha [Getty Images]
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Qatar, Iran Hold Joint Coast Guard Meeting to Boost Field Cooperation

Dhows, traditional sailing vessels, with Qatar flags anchored in Doha [Getty Images]
Dhows, traditional sailing vessels, with Qatar flags anchored in Doha [Getty Images]

The 15th joint coast guard meeting between Iran and Qatar was held Sunday in Tehran to develop field cooperation and boost bilateral good-neighborly relations, according to Iranian media.

The Iranian side was headed by Border Guard Commander Brigadier General Ghasem Rezaei and the Qatari delegation was headed by Lieutenant Colonel Abdulaziz Ali al-Mohannadi, assistant director-general of the country’s Coasts and Borders Security, according to IRNA.

Ties between Iran and Qatar have been bolstered since the GCC decided to boycott Doha in June 2017 after accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Last week, Tehran also received UAE Coast Guard Commander Brigadier General Mohammed Ali Musleh al-Ahbabi to discuss means of enhancing border security between the two countries.

The two sides signed on Thursday a maritime border cooperation deal and agreed to hold meetings to discuss border cooperation every six months.

Qatar-funded media has launched a propaganda campaign against UAE's effort to hold border cooperation talks with Iran.

It exploited UAE's move to disrupt the Gulf alliance despite the official announcement by Abu Dhabi that its talks with Iran were routine and didn’t reflect any shift in regional policy.

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Series of Ethiopia Earthquakes Trigger Evacuations

People view a truck that fell off the Gelan Bridge as it was returning from a wedding ceremony in the southern Sidama region of Ethiopia, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Str)
People view a truck that fell off the Gelan Bridge as it was returning from a wedding ceremony in the southern Sidama region of Ethiopia, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Str)
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Series of Ethiopia Earthquakes Trigger Evacuations

People view a truck that fell off the Gelan Bridge as it was returning from a wedding ceremony in the southern Sidama region of Ethiopia, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Str)
People view a truck that fell off the Gelan Bridge as it was returning from a wedding ceremony in the southern Sidama region of Ethiopia, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Str)

Evacuations were underway in Ethiopia Saturday after a series of earthquakes, the strongest of which, a 5.8-magnitude jolt, rocked the remote north of the Horn of Africa nation.

The quakes were centered on the largely rural Afar, Oromia and Amhara regions after months of intense seismic activity, AFP reported.

No casualties have been reported so far.

Ethiopia's government Communication Service said around 80,000 people were living in the affected regions and the most vulnerable were being moved to temporary shelters.

"The earthquakes are increasing in terms of magnitude and recurrences," it said in a statement, adding that experts had been dispatched to assess the damage.

The Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission said 20,573 people had been evacuated to safer areas in Afar and Oromia, from a tally of over 51,000 "vulnerable" people.

Plans were underway to move more than 8,000 people in Oromia "in the coming days", the agency said in a statement.

The latest shallow 4.7 magnitude quake hit just before 12:40 pm (0940 GMT) about 33 kilometers north of Metehara town in Oromia, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.

The earthquakes have damaged houses and threatened to trigger a volcanic eruption of the previously dormant Mount Dofan, near Segento in the northeast Afar region.

The crater has stopped releasing plumes of smoke, but nearby residents have left their homes in panic.

Earthquakes are common in Ethiopia due to its location along the Great Rift Valley, one of the world's most seismically active areas.

Experts have said the tremors and eruptions are being caused by the expansion of tectonic plates under the Great Rift Valley.