Iran's Raisi says Israel must be brought to justice for 'usurpation' of Palestinian territories
Iran was now able to share its knowledge with others, currently having projects in 20 countries. The Uma Oya project, in the central Badulla district, was constructed with Iranian technical assistance.
Valued at $514 million, it was started in 2010 by Iran’s FARAB engineering group and Iran initially provided $50 million. But in 2013, funding could not be continued because of international sanctions against Iran.
The Sri Lankan government then decided to complete the project with its own funds using the same Iranian contractor. The project was scheduled for completion in 2015 but was delayed by international sanctions against Iran, technical issues and the COVID-19 pandemic, the government said in a statement ahead of Raisi’s visit.
The project will add 290 GWh of electricity annually to the national grid and irrigate 4,500 hectares (11,100 acres) of new land and 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of existing agricultural land. Raisi and Wickremesinghe later Wednesday witnessed the signing of five memoranda of understanding covering areas including tourism, science, technical media, films and sports.
Raisi arrived in Sri Lanka from Pakistan, where the two countries agreed to strengthen economic and security cooperation. Milestone Alert!
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