![\"images\/stories\/2018\/November\/b\/Irans-Water-Crisis-and-Regimes-Proxy-Wars.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Irans-Water-Crisis-and-Regimes-Proxy-Wars.jpg\" "\\"Irans-Water-Crisis-and-Regimes-Proxy-Wars\\"")
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By Shahriar Kia<\/p>\n
On 2nd January, a gathering was held in Razavi Khorasan, in which the current water situation in Iran\u2019s east was discussed, and some very disturbing facts were revealed.<\/p>\n
Due to the drying of most of Hamun lake and the consequent water shortage, hundreds have become homeless and unemployed in Iran\u2019s eastern region.<\/p>\n
According to IRNA, Mohammad Hossein Shariatmadar (who\u2019s the head of the National Center of Strategic Studies of Agriculture and Water at Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture; also referred to as ICCIMA), issued a warning regarding water shortage, saying that: \u201cwe are only 5 years away from the peak of this crisis, which all stems from our negligence for the past 50 years\u201d; adding that the restoration of Iran\u2019s water resources are nearly impossible because \u201cwe still lack the right determination, as well as an effective leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n
Like most other countries of the region, Iran has also been struggling with drought, reduced rainfall, and climate change, for quite some time now. Which government officials link to mismanagement and ineffective policies.<\/p>\n
Mismanagement<\/strong><\/p>\n According to ISNA, Kalantari believes that from when the Islamic Republic was founded, the environment has been \u201cignored\u201d as evident from the ongoing industrial developments.<\/p>\n Over the past months and years, the farmers and residents of some cities, such as those around Isfahan, have been complaining about government\u2019s plans regarding the transfer of water between different basins, and have been frustrated to see their basic rights being ignored; but instead of cooperating, the government has been fighting with and oppressing the protestors via their Police Force.<\/p>\n Some officials claim that by desalinating the establishments around Persian Gulf and Oman Sea, and by transferring water to Khorasan and other provinces, the issue of water shortage can be effectively managed.<\/p>\n Ineffective policies<\/strong><\/p>\n In a gathering held on Wednesday, Mohammad Hossein Papoli Yazdi (a professor at Tehran\u2019s Tarbiat Modares University) criticised this plan: \u201cgive me the name of a country that transfers its desalinated water over 1000 kilometers. The highest world record has been only 100 kilometers thus far\u201d.<\/p>\n According to government officials and experts themselves, the water shortage issue doesn\u2019t seem to ever improve because ineffective policies continue to be implemented and environmental needs continue to be ignored as well.<\/p>\n The President of ICCIMA has also commented in this regard: \u201cwe don\u2019t have any plans in place, so it feels like we\u2019re moving forward with our eyes closed. Look at Khorasan Razavi, where the ongoing development of industries are leading to very dangerous consequences\u201d.<\/p>\n Approaching the peak of a crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n Back in June, Issa Kalantari brought up Isfahan (where Iran\u2019s top industries are based) as his example of inattention to \u201cnational improvement\u201d, and spoke of the few million residents who faced shortage of drinking water.<\/p>\n Many experts believe that the excessive building of dams, inattention to optimal water use in agriculture, excessive use of renewable water resources, land subsidence, and drying of lakes, would all lead to destructive consequences and subsequently, even more suffering for people.<\/p>\n For the past while, many village residents have left Iran\u2019s eastern regions (especially Sistan and Baluchestan) and migrated to the rural areas of other cities (which themselves, will soon be included in the \u201cnational water crisis\u201d due to the increasing population and water use).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Shahriar Kia On 2nd January, a gathering was held in Razavi Khorasan, in which the current water situation in Iran’s east was discussed, and some very disturbing facts were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":52590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[178],"class_list":{"0":"post-25740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-society","8":"tag-save"},"yoast_head":"\n