Agence France Presse — English
April 11, 2005 Monday 3:10 PM GMT

Iran’s Khatami to inaugurate new dam on Turkmen border

ASHGABAT

Turkmenistan made final preparations on Monday for the inauguration
of a new dam on the Turkmen-Iranian river border by Turkmenistan
President Saparmurat Niyazov and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad
Khatami, Turkmen officials said.

The two men will meet on Tuesday to open the new Dostluk (friendship)
dam located on the Tejen River, known in Iran as the Harir-Roud, in
the Germab mountain range 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the
Turkmen town of Serahs and 250 kilometres (155 miles) east of the
Iranian city of Mashhad, a senior official at Turkmenistan’s water
resources ministry said.

The project reflects growing ties between this former Soviet republic
and its south-western neighbour Iran.

This “is a symbol of our good neighbourly relations,” the water
resources official told AFP.

Built at a cost of some 167 million dollars (130 million euros), the
structure measures some 655 metres (2,150 feet) in length and is
entirely located on Turkmen territory.

Its reservoir spans the border however and will eventually hold some
1.25 billion cubic metres (43.75 billion cubic feet), said Muratgeldy
Akmamadov, project director for the Turkmen side.

The dam will initially be used for irrigation, although the
possibility of generating electricity has also been mooted.

“This structure, important for the economies of both countries, will
irrigate more than 50,000 hectares (125,000 acres) of Turkmen and
Iranian territory,” Akmamadov told AFP.

The project is one of a number of joint water projects involving Iran
and neighbours such as Turkmenistan and Armenia aimed at meeting
northern Iran’s growing irrigation and energy requirements, a
regional water expert told AFP.

Turkmenistan has in recent years begun supplying north-east Iran with
electricity generated from its important natural gas reserves.