TEHRAN // Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani faced angry protests from victims’ families on Sunday when he visited the site of a mine accident that killed dozens of people — two weeks before he stands for re-election.
Angry coal miners besieged his car after he visited the site of a deadly mine explosion in Iran’s northern Golestan province that killed dozens on Wednesday.
At least 26 people were confirmed dead, with at least nine more miners still trapped inside after Wednesday’s explosion, but officials say there is little chance they have survived.
Semi-official news agencies reported that at least 35 people were killed, while Iranian officials say they have recovered 22 bodies and the search continues.
In a rare protest targeting the nation’s top elected official, the miners — some covered in coal soot from searching for fallen comrades still missing — began kicking and banging on the armoured SUV carrying Mr Rouhani. Video posted online by the semi-official Fars news agency showed one miner on the SUV’s roof, another jumping up and down and kicking its hood.
“Dear brothers! I beg you wait for a couple of minutes!” someone shouts during the video.
Mr Rouhani’s SUV eventually nudges its way through the crowd amid the shouting. Another miner rushes up to kick the back of it as it sped away down a hill.
Local news agencies showed family members shouting at the president and hitting his car as he visited the site in Golestan.
“The entire Iranian nation shares the sorrow of families of those killed in the Zemestan Yort mine accident,” Mr Rouhani said, according to the government’s website.
“Those responsible and anyone who had a fault in the incident must be found and dealt with accordingly, without any exceptions.”
The accident is thought to have been caused by concentrated methane gas that was triggered when workers tried to jump-start an engine.
Workers and families are angry over poor safety conditions, but also over delayed wages — a common problem in factories and industrial enterprises across the country due to the struggling economy.
Labour minister Ali Rabii travelled 1,400 metres deep into the mine earlier, where rescue teams have been trying to unblock the collapsed tunnel.
The president has ordered a task force to investigate the causes of the explosion and handle compensation for victims and their families.
“We are all responsible in this incident,” said Mr Rouhani, calling for tighter regulations in the mining sector.
Mr Rouhani’s visit to the mining disaster site comes ahead of Iran’s May 19 presidential election.
He remains the favourite in the election as every Iranian president since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself took the presidency in 1981 has won re-election.
However, many in the country remain discontent as the benefits of the nuclear deal with world powers have yet to trickle down to the average Iranian.
* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
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Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
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Rating: 3/5
England v West Indies
England squad for the first Test Cook, Stoneman, Westley, Root (captain), Malan, Stokes, Bairstow, Moeen, Roland-Jones, Broad, Anderson, Woakes, Crane
Fixtures
1st Test Aug 17-21, Edgbaston
2nd Test Aug 25-29, Headingley
3rd Test Sep 7-11, Lord's
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
