May 14, 2021
Thousands of dead fish have washed up on the beach at Jask on the Gulf of Oman coast and locals blame fishing companies.
Iranian journalist Heshmat Alavi, who tweeted out a video of the scene, singled out Chinese fishermen, claiming they use “extreme electrofishing (pulse fishing) methods that are destroying the marine life.”
He said: “This is leaving locals who rely on fishing without any way to make ends meet.”
This came a week after Iran signed a 25-year strategic partnership deal with the Chinese and fed assertions that the Islamic Republic had sold Iran’s sovereignty.
Alavi tweeted: “These scenes are making Iranians very angry over the regime’s recent signing of a 25-year cooperation agreement with Beijing.”
Tehran has, however, allowed Chinese fishing ships for many years to use “bottom trawling” techniques in Iranian waters, industrial fishing methods not used by small scale Iranian fishing boats.
Alavi also tweeted photos of Iranians protesting the deal with China, holding signs reading, “Iran is not for sale.”