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A30 world news
Diahuebs 9 Juni 2022

Japan criticizes Russia for suspending fishing pact

one-sidedly announced it is ers — one involving Russian
suspending the cooperation salmon and another seaweed
in this manner.” He criti- — were settled earlier this
cized Moscow for blaming year, while a fourth deal to
Japan’s failure to fund unre- decide catch quotas in each
lated development projects other’s economic waters is
on Sakhalin, Russia’s largest set for December.
island in the Pacific and not The territorial dispute has
part of the territory claimed prevented the two countries
by Tokyo. from signing a peace treaty
Japan has provided develop- formally ending their World
ment funds for Sakhalin for War II hostilities. Russia has
years as part of its efforts to already scrapped peace treaty
improve ties with Russia. negotiations with Japan in re-
Matsuno acknowledged that sponse to the sanctions.
Tokyo had not made its lat- Also Wednesday, Japan’s De-
est payment for the Sakhalin fense Ministry said four sus-
projects, but it wasn’t imme- pected Russian fighter jets
diately clear if it was related flew over the Sea of Japan to-
to the sanctions. ward Japanese airspace west
of the island of Hokkaido on
Matsuno said Tokyo will pur- Tuesday night, causing Ja-
sue negotiations to ensure pan’s Air Self-Defense Force
safe operations of Japanese to scramble its fighter jets.
By MARI YAMAGUCHI The fishing deal has been in response to Japan’s sanctions boats under the pact. They did not violate Japanese
Associated Press place since 1998 and allows against Moscow for its inva- “We will do our utmost to airspace, the ministry said in
TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Japanese fishing boats to op- sion of Ukraine, raises con- protect the safety of the Japa- a statement.
Wednesday criticized Rus- erate around the Russian- cern about the safety of Japa- nese fishing operation,” he
sia’s announcement that held Kurils, which Japan also nese fishing boats in the area. said. Japan quickly joined the
it is suspending an agree- claims and calls the Northern Prior to the agreement, Rus- The area is a rich fishing United States and Europe in
ment allowing Japanese Territories, in exchange for sian authorities had seized ground for pollack, Okhotsk imposing sanctions against
to fish in waters near dis- payments from Japan based and sometimes shot at Japa- mackerel and octopus. Russia and providing support
puted islands, as relations on catch quotas and other nese boats. The fishing safety pact is one for Ukraine after Russia’s in-
between the countries de- conditions negotiated annu- Chief Cabinet Secretary of four fisheries agreements vasion. It fears the crisis may
teriorate over the war in ally. Hirokazu Matsuno said it near the disputed waters. embolden China to increase
Ukraine. Its suspension, apparently in was “regrettable that Russia Negotiations on two oth- its assertiveness in the region.

Train derailment in east Iran kills at least 22, injures 87

By NASSER KARIMI suspected.
Associated Press Iran’s worst train disaster
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — came in 2004, when a run-
A passenger train travel- away train loaded with gaso-
ing through eastern Iran line, fertilizer, sulfur and cot-
struck an excavator and ton crashed near the historic
nearly half its cars de- city of Neyshabur, killing
railed before dawn on some 320 people, injuring
Wednesday, killing at least 460 others and damaging five
22 people and injuring 87, villages. In 2016, a train col-
officials said. lision in northern Iran killed
at least 43 people and injured
The derailment near the des- about 100.
ert city of Tabas was the latest Iran has some 14,000 kilome-
disaster to strike the Islamic ters (8,700 miles) of railway
Republic in recent weeks as lines throughout the country
Tehran struggles under U.S. that’s about two and a half
sanctions and any return to times the size of Texas. Its rail
its nuclear deal with world system sends both people and
powers remains in doubt. pened in the rural scrubland Aerial footage of the desert collided with an excava- goods across the country, par-
The train, operated by the near a railway bridge. site of the disaster showed tor near the track, though ticularly in rural areas.
state-run Islamic Republic “Passengers were bouncing train cars on their side, with it wasn’t immediately clear Iran also has some 17,000 an-
Railway, carried some 350 in the car like balls in the air,” some rescuers running at the why an excavator would have nual deaths on its highways,
people as it traveled from the one unnamed injured pas- scene as they tried to care for been close to the train track one of the world’s worst traf-
town of Tabas, some 550 ki- senger told Iranian state tele- those injured. in the dark. One official sug- fic safety records. The high
lometers (340 miles) south- vision. State TV later aired images gested it could have been part toll is blamed on wide dis-
east of Tehran, to the city of The state-run IRNA news from a hospital where the of a repair project. regard for traffic laws, un-
Yazd. The route had began agency gave the casualty fig- injured received treatment. Iran’s President Ebrahim Rai- safe vehicles and inadequate
as an overnight train out of ures, citing emergency offi- One of those injured told the si offered condolences over emergency services.
Iran’s holy city of Mashhad. cials. broadcaster they felt the train the crash and announced an
Based on images after the Rescue teams with ambu- suddenly brake and then slow investigation would be un- Iran, already straining un-
crash, it appeared the train’s lances and helicopters arrived before the derailment. dertaken into its causes. On der U.S. sanctions over its
locomotive passed the exca- in the remote area where The incident happened some Wednesday night, authori- collapsed nuclear deal, has
vator and the later cars some- communication is poor. Over 50 kilometers (30 miles) out- ties ordered the arrest of six been mourning the deaths
how hit the digger and caused a dozen people suffered criti- side of Tabas. people allegedly involved in of at least 41 people killed in
the derailment, though au- cal injuries, with some trans- The report said the crash is causing the crash, though a building collapse in May
thorities did not immediately ferred to local hospitals, offi- under investigation. Initial they released no other infor- in the city of Abadan in the
explain how the disaster hap- cials said. reports suggested the train mation about why they were country’s southwest.