Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 1 / Trend T. Jafarov /
Iran will use its sector of the Araz River to direct the water into Lake Urmia, Energy Minister Majid Namdz was quoted by Iranian news agency MoJNEWS as saying.
"The Araz River is a transboundary river," he said. According to the agreement, about 50 percent of the length of this river falls to Iran, other 50 percent to Azerbaijan."
He said that the sector of each country has been determined. Iran plans to direct water into Lake Urmia, using its sector.
Iran has not properly used its sector of the Araz River, he said.
"According to the protocol, we have the right to use our secotr at our discretion," he said.
If Iran intends to use the water of the Araz River to remove shoaling of Lake Urmia, it must come to the agreement with the Azerbaijani side about this issue, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Huseyn Bagirov told press earlier.
He said that the Iranian side has not formally appealed to Azerbaijan on this issue yet.