Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 25 /Trend D. Khatinoglu/
Deputy Director at Iran's Department of Environment in marine sector Abdol-Reza Karbasi said that Iran has completed gathering 25 tons of oil spots from coastal waters in Caspian Sea, Mehr News Agency reported on Sep.25.
He said Iran would appeal to international centres to get compensation for relevant damage. He didn't mention to which centre Iran is going to appeal, but added that Azerbaijan produces oil in the Caspian Sea by using obsolete oil units and thereby pollutes the sea.
Iran announced in early August that the oil spots originate from Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources has rejected the accusations made by Karbasi on Azerbaijan's role in the Caspian Sea's pollution on Aug.24, saying the Iranian side has already made similar accusations about Azerbaijan's role in the pollution of the Caspian Sea.
Head of the environmental policy department of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Rasim Sattarzade told Trend that he maintains the main cause of the Caspian Sea pollution is the discharge of industrial and household waste from the land. This therefore shows that Azerbaijan cannot be a major source of pollution. A real factor of the Caspian Sea pollution from the land is associated with the number of people living in the coastal zone.
"If we take into account that much more people live along the Iranian coast of the Caspian Sea compared to other countries, we can say that Iran pollutes the sea from the land more than Azerbaijan," Sattarzade said. "A lack of treatment facilities and sewage systems on the Iranian coast of the Caspian Sea and the fact that the population there uses large volumes of fertilisers including pesticides while farming play a large role in the pollution of the Caspian Sea".
Karbasi added that Iran is estimating the value of damage, after which it will appeal to an international centre. The appeal process would take six to seven months.