Saturday, July 13, 2013

Iran's Growing Fresh Water Crisis

Karaj Dam in Iran. Chyzmyz

Iran’s Water Crisis: A Bigger Threat Than Israel? -- Zachary Keck, The Diplomat

A former agriculture minister has said Iran’s water shortage is a bigger threat to the country than either Israel or the United States, Al-Monitor reported this week citing local media.

According to Al-Monitor, Issa Kalantari, the minister of agricultural under president Hashemi Rafsanjani, told Ghanoon newspaper this week that the water crisis is the “main problem that threatens” Iran, adding that it is more dangerous “than Israel, America or political fighting” among the Iranian elite.

Kalatantari, who serves on president-elect Hassan Rouhani’s transition team and heads research on agricultural at the think tank Rouhani has headed since 1992, went on to say that if the water issue is not addressed, Iran could become “inhabitable.”

Read more ....

My Comment: This is rapidly becoming the number one crisis in the Middle East as a whole, with Yemen becoming the bell-weather country of what to expect. Unfortunately .... when it comes to environmental policy in the Middle East .... this has always been a low priority .... if at all.

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