Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 27
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iranian Parliament's Research Center has announced that transferring Caspian Sea water to Iran's central parts will be loss-making.
Transferring water from the Caspian Sea to the country's central parts will lead to environmental damages and will decrease the number of industrial units in the region, the research center added, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on Dec. 27.
According to the plan, some 200 million cubic meters of water is projected to be transferred per year to the central parts of the country for drinking and industrial purposes.
In October 2012, the Iranian energy ministry received the permission to transfer water from the Caspian Sea to central parts of the country.
In December 2013, Iranian deputy energy minister Sattar Mahmoudi said that Iran has finished preliminary studies for transferring water from the Caspian Sea to inland.
Meanwhile, Iran's Environment Protection Organization has opposed the water transfer from the Caspian Sea to central parts of the country.
Iran is located in an arid zone, and the drought of 1992-2002 caused a major blow to agriculture. There were quotas imposed for fresh water in several cities, including the capital Tehran.