Iran should solve water crisis instead of attacking protesters, UN says

Iran should improve water supplies across its drought-stricken south-west instead of killing, injuring and jailing those who protest against shortages, the UN’s human rights chief said on Friday.

Michelle Bachelet, the UN high commissioner on human rights, said she was “extremely concerned” by the deaths, injuries and arrests of those demonstrating against water shortages in Khuzestan province.

The wealthy, oil-producing region has been gripped by drought since March, triggering protests in several towns and cities this past week that have been met with a heavy-handed response.

“The impact of the devastating water crisis on life, health and prosperity of the people of Khuzestan should be the focus of the government’s attention, not the protests carried out by people driven to desperation by years of neglect,” Ms Bachelet in a statement.

Iranian media and officials have said at least three people have been killed, including a police officer and a protester, and have accused “opportunists” and “rioters” of shooting at protesters and security forces.

But campaign group Amnesty International said on Friday it had confirmed the deaths of at least eight protesters and bystanders, including a teenage boy, as the authorities used live ammunition in a bid to quell the demonstrations.

The Khuzestan region was once Iran’s most reliable source of water, but years of mismanagement, droughts and the diversion of water to dryer regions have seen supplies dwindle, the UN says.

The Karkheh and Zohreh riverbeds and the Hawizeh marshes in western Khuzestan have all dried up in recent months.

The province’s five million inhabitants include a large Arab minority and its people regularly complain of being sidelined by Tehran. The area was in 2019 a hotspot for anti-government protests that shook other parts of the country.

Rallies against water shortages and mismanagement erupted across the province on July 15, with protesters, including children, chanting, “I am thirsty, water is my right.”

“Water is indeed a right,” said Ms Bachelet. “But Instead of heeding the legitimate calls by its citizens for that right to be upheld, the authorities have, for the most part, concentrated on oppressing those making those calls.”

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday warned Khuzestan residents not to give ammunition to Iran’s opponents.

“The enemy will try to use any tool against the revolution, the nation and the people's interests, so we must be careful not to give him any pretext,” he said in comments posted on his official website.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday that the people had the right to protest. State security chief Admiral Ali Shamkhani said anybody who has been detained for protesting peacefully would be released.

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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.”

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The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK

Ministry of Interior
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General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
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