BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 7. The climate change about which modern environmentalists talk so much will undoubtedly affect the whole world. However, some countries, for various reasons, will be under a greater blow than others, and amid a crisis of water resources, which is relevant now, will be at the forefront.
Ecology issues are a sensitive and important topic for Iran, and the state of the country's water resources is already causing concern. Department of Environment of Iran recognizes the dangers, that were indicated in the UN Environmental Annual Report 2017 - an increase in temperature and a decrease in precipitation, as well as available water resources, which pose a real threat to the country. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised citizens that water would become the top priority of the leadership back in 2021 – and not by chance.
The Nature Scientific Journal report on the water crisis in Iran indicates that more than 74 billion cubic meters were extracted from aquifers from 2002 to 2015, which is unprecedented, and it will take 1,000 years to revive along with urgent measures.
The Hamshahri Tegeran newspaper reported that Iran will face an acute water crisis by 2025 and a shortage of water by 2040, citing the doctor and Deputy Minister and Acting Head of Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization (NRWO). Abbasali Nobakht. Iran is geographically located in the dry belt of the planet, characterized by high temperatures and relatively little precipitation. This makes available water resources one of the most important limiting factors to the country's development. Global studies show that in such a climatic zone as Iran, an increase in temperature by one degree can reduce yields by 10 percent, which, of course, affects both the economy and food security of Iran.
For example, in some regions of Iran, in particular, in Parsabad city in the north, water from the Aras river is still used as drinking water. Furthermore, water is widely used for household purposes. Riots have repeatedly occurred in the country, for example, large-scale disturbances took place, killing 10 demonstrators and injuring hundreds from May through June 2021. The peasants of Sistan and Baluchistan, Khuzestan provinces, unable to farm anymore in the absence of the necessary amount of water for irrigation and domestic animals, were forced to slaughter livestock and move to cities, where the situation isn’t the best.
In this context, if Armenia continues to pollute Aras, it may lead to a ban on the use of river water as irrigation and drinking water. As a result, new riots may arise in the north of Iran for this reason.
The Iranian government, undoubtedly, makes efforts to prevent the problem of water scarcity to become one of the reasons causes of social upheavals. However, besides climate change, no less significant blow to the ecology of Iran is caused by the pollution factor from its neighbor – Armenia. While the country is struggling with the crisis of water resources, and people are forced to abandon their homes and farms, Armenia continues to pollute the most important water source for Iran - the Aras river, further aggravating the situation.
According to Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian, Iran has been trying for several years to stop the pollution of the Aras River by Armenia, one of the most important rivers in both the Caucasus and Iran, but to no avail. Aras River is systematically polluted by Armenia.
The fact of pollution of the Okhchuchai transboundary river has been repeatedly brought up both by Azerbaijan and Iran. Waste from the Kajaran Copper-Molybdenum Plant at the source of this river as well as domestic wastewater is discharged in Okhchuhai, which leads to an excess of heavy metal compounds in the river. Chief Executive of Aras Free Trade-Industrial Zone in East Azerbaijan Mohsen Nariman announced back in 2021 that Iran and Armenia would resume the working group on monitoring of pollution of the Aras river.
Nonetheless, although the countries conduct monitoring, and create a joint commission, the most important river of this region continues to get polluted for the sake of Armenia's greed. Either Armenia does not consider environmental terror a good reason to build sewage treatment plants, or it simply doesn’t cope with the control of those plants that are located on its territory.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with Armenia's irresponsible position, which brings the ecological situation of the region to a critical state. During the visit of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Azerbaijani Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev to Iran in recent months, a number of discussions around the problem of pollution of the Aras River by Armenia were held.
Iran is undoubtedly taking measures to avoid a deterioration of the situation, but are they enough? And will Tehran be able to fight the environmental crisis alone, and the pollution from Armenia, and the consequences that will surely follow? The lack of water resources can cause conflicts both inside and outside the country, as other neighbors of Iran face a similar issue.
Question to the Iranian government: when will Iran take active measures against Armenia, which pollutes the fresh waters of the Caucasian rivers?