Tehran, Iran, Jan.7
Trend:
Iran's Ministry of Energy is issuing licenses for transferring water from the Caspian Sea to central provinces, the licenses are being issued at the, the deputy energy minister Hedayat Fahmi told Trend.
"We believe that transferring water is not sustainable approach," he said. “In the first stage, it is necessary to try to supply water to each province by managing consumption and demand and reducing consumption.”
“In a situation where we have to transfer the seawater, the environmental, social and economic considerations such as cost and benefits have to be considered,” he said.
“The government's intervention should be focused on drinking water. In some cases, water transfers are for industrial use, which should be carried out by the private sector and the government is only required to review the water supply for drinking water,” said Fahmi.
"The Water Rights Determination in free and international seas like the Caspian Sea, Oman and the Persian Gulf is necessary, but it must meet national interests and environmental consideration,” he added
“Iran needs to determine the country's water quota through the right to abandon the violation of its rights in the potential future protocols or agreements in the global arena,” the deputy minister said.
"In the future, international protocols may not easily allow us to use seawater, while the countries of the region and the Arab countries have benefited the most from the mutual seas and determined their own water right," he said.
"This issue has not been addressed and finalized in the Caspian Sea Convention due to the disagreements between the members. Of course, we have to observe environmental considerations,” he said. “But in order to protect our national interests, we must use our share of the Caspian Sea and determine our water right.”