Analysis by PMOI/MEK
Iran, Sept. 1, 2018 – Until a short while ago a number of Iranian regime officials were denying the presence of Chinese fishing boats in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. However, their presence is so expansive that regime officials have recently found no choice but to acknowledge the contracts signed in this regard providing vast authority to the Chinese.
The state-run Tasnim news agency, affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force, cited Mohammad Ali Hassanzadeh, deputy chief of the Ports & Sea Navigation Organization saying, “Chinese ships have long-term contracts with Iran to fish at the depth of 200 meters in Iran’s Gulf of Oman waters.”
This unpatriotic contract is destroying the lives of the local fishing industry and depriving the already poor population. The mullahs’ regime, of course, could care less about the people.
Chinese fishing ships have been in Iran’s southern waters for a long time despite the regime’s denials, and even confirmed by China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Village Affairs. The minister added this had provided more than $7 million/year in profits for Beijing.
Last October the Chinese ministry said five ships are heading for Iran’s southern waters and will dock at Bandar Abbas, a famous port in southern Iran, starting in November 2017. The report added the fish would be sold in China’s domestic market.
Iranian regime Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif justified this unpatriotic policy in a recent interview with state TV.
“Everywhere in the world they allow others to fish in their coasts where they can’t do so themselves. I am not an expert in this regard but this is not an unorthodox practice. You have resources… and if it’s not used it will be destroyed, or it must be reproduced. If you can’t use it, others should be given permission to fish. Many do the same,” he said.
The Iranian regime is allowing the Chinese use even industrial ships and various methods, such as high voltages and bottom trawling, in their mass fishing. Bottom trawling specifically destroys the sea floor habitat and leaves a vast amount of wildlife to be destroyed.
While Iran’s own southern fishing industry is experiencing deep troubles, the Iranian regime is literally selling off the country’s vast southern resources to a country like China to most likely use the profits for their domestic crackdown machine and malign activities throughout the region.
The Chinese are plundering Iran’s southern waters to such an extent that a fisherman from Bandar Jask says the city’s 750-ton refrigerator station is closed down now.
