Iran Slams Turkey's Upstream Dam-building Activity

Iran has faced frequent droughts in recent years, caused in part by climate change, as well as dam-building in neighboring countries. (AP)
Iran has faced frequent droughts in recent years, caused in part by climate change, as well as dam-building in neighboring countries. (AP)
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Iran Slams Turkey's Upstream Dam-building Activity

Iran has faced frequent droughts in recent years, caused in part by climate change, as well as dam-building in neighboring countries. (AP)
Iran has faced frequent droughts in recent years, caused in part by climate change, as well as dam-building in neighboring countries. (AP)

Iran on Tuesday described as "unacceptable" upstream dam-building by neighboring Turkey on shared waterways, calling on its neighbor to cease such activity.

"Turkey's construction of dams on the border waters is unacceptable and we oppose it," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

He told parliament that the issue had been raised "at least three times these past months during two face-to-face meetings in New York and Tehran and a phone call with the Turkish foreign minister to express our disapproval.

"I asked him to pay particular attention to the construction of dams on the River Aras," he added.

Amir-Abdollahian noted that while "there is no bilateral agreement... on water cooperation, as neighbors, we asked the Turkish government four months ago to form a bilateral committee on water to respond to concerns in this domain".

His remarks come as Iran has faced frequent droughts in recent years, caused in part by climate change, as well as dam-building in neighboring countries.

But alongside Turkey, Iran itself has been responsible for building dams on shared rivers with its neighbor Iraq, threatening access to water there.

Turkey's dam on the Aras has nonetheless posed a particular threat to water availability in Iran.

Neither country is party to the 1997 United Nations Watercourses Convention that regulates the use of transnational water resources.



China’s Military Says It ‘Drove Away’ US Destroyer Near Scarborough Shoal 

The USS Higgins is docked in the northern Israeli city of Haifa September 6, 2009. (Reuters)
The USS Higgins is docked in the northern Israeli city of Haifa September 6, 2009. (Reuters)
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China’s Military Says It ‘Drove Away’ US Destroyer Near Scarborough Shoal 

The USS Higgins is docked in the northern Israeli city of Haifa September 6, 2009. (Reuters)
The USS Higgins is docked in the northern Israeli city of Haifa September 6, 2009. (Reuters)

China's military said on Wednesday it monitored and "drove away" a US destroyer that sailed near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the strategic busy waterway of the South China Sea.

The first known US military operation in at least six years within the shoal's waters came a day after the Philippines accused Chinese vessels of "dangerous maneuvers and unlawful interference" during a supply mission around the atoll.

In a statement, the Chinese military's Southern Theater Command said the USS Higgins had entered the waters "without approval of the Chinese government" on Wednesday.

"The US move seriously violated China's sovereignty and security, severely undermined peace and stability in the South China Sea," it added, vowing to keep a "high alert at all times".

The US Indo-Pacific Command declined to comment, referring questions to the US Navy's 7th Fleet, which did not immediately respond. The US embassy in Beijing, the Chinese capital, also offered no immediate comment.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, despite overlapping claims by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The United States regularly carries out "freedom of navigation" operations in the South China Sea, challenging what it says are curbs on passage imposed by China and other claimants.

The Scarborough Shoal has been a major source of tension in the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce.

The actions of Chinese vessels in the shoal this week also resulted in a collision of two of them, Manila said, the first such known in the area.

China's coast guard said it had taken "necessary measures" to expel Philippine vessels from the waters.

In 2016, an international arbitral tribunal ruled there was no basis in international law for Beijing's claims, based on its historic maps. China does not recognize that decision, however.