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The root of Iran’s water and environmental crisis

Reporting by PMOI/MEK

Iran, May 22, 2021—“The country is fading,” Issa Kalantari, the head of Iran’s Environment Protection Organization, warned on May 17. In his remarks Kalantari also warned:

  • Every year, there’s 20 billion cubic meters of over-extraction of natural resources and underground water, and other sources are being depleted as well. If this process continues, in 20 years, there will be no trace of agriculture in the areas surrounding the Zagros mountain range because water sources are being plundered.
  • In 1981, Iran’s negative record was 200 million cubic meters. But by today, this figure has reached 20 billion, which is a hundred-fold increase.
  • According to the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, countries are allowed to only use 40 percent of their renewable water sources. But Iran has been using 100 percent of its capacity for years.
  • Iran’s rivers are dying. Aside from Sephid Rud and Karun, which still have a bit of breath left in them, all other rivers have been cut from their destinations. No river in the country aside from these two is alive, Kalantari warned. The wetlands and other areas the rivers lead to have dried up.

It is worth noting that Kalantari’s comments are not meant to raise awareness on the conditions of the environment, but to relive himself of any duty and responsibility in this regard. In his remarks, Kalantari deceitfully criticized experts that have been “silent on the environment” and blamed the “selfish generation” for current problems in the environment.

As the regime inches toward greater crises at the cusp of its sham presidential election, different officials have resorted to blaming others for their failures and pretending to be trustable custodians of Iran’s interests.

Javan, a newspaper that is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), warned on May 20, “Every second, 360 square meters of Iran’s natural habitat is destroyed.”

These days, presidential candidates have made the environment one of the focal points of their campaigns and are exposing each other’s destructive policies to move ahead in the race.

But the reality is that the regime in its entirety is responsible for the destruction of Iran’s environment and ecosystem. The regime has been taxing Iran’s natural resources without abiding by any scientific rules. It has razed forests, raised dams without considering the repercussions, has been digging deep wells wherever it could make profits, and more. The result of these policies is the destruction of rivers, forests, farmlands, and the lives of Iran’s people.

According to a May 18 report by the semi-official ISNA news agency, “Iran has depleted 88 percent of its renewable resources and is faced with a water crisis.”

This is just one more reason why the people of Iran are fed up with their rulers, who have no respect for any form of life in their country. And while regime officials are fast busy playing the blame game, the people of Iran know full well that the root of the problems is the regime in its entirety.

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