Head of Environmental Organization: The Situation of Lake Urmia is Dire

The head of the Environmental Organization acknowledged the deteriorating condition of Lake Urmia on Thursday following the release of numerous images and documents depicting its critical state. According to the website 'Khabar Online', Ali Salajegheh, during his visit to the city of Urmia and at a meeting titled 'Reviewing the Environmental Status of Lake Urmia National Park', admitted that the lake 'does not have a suitable condition.' On the other hand, this environmental official of Ibrahim Raisi's government expressed hope that the 'autumn' season and 'good rainfall' could change the 'situation of Lake Urmia.' The release of images from Lake Urmia in mid-August shocked social media users and prompted Salman Zakir, the representative of this city in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, to state that with the drying up of this lake, the lives of about 'five million people' are at risk and exposed to 'respiratory diseases.' Ali Alizadeh, a member of the Investigative Committee of the Islamic Consultative Assembly regarding the 'Restoration Headquarters of Lake Urmia,' also stated on August 10 to 'Shargh Network' that there is no water capacity in the region to restore Lake Urmia, and there is no hope for its revival with unrealistic plans. Lake Urmia, as 'the largest inland lake in Iran' and one of the most important 'saline' lakes in the world, is located in northwestern Iran, between the provinces of West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan according to 'administrative divisions.' The Tasnim news agency, close to security institutions, on August 9 quoted Mojtaba Zolghoudi, the deputy for marine and wetland environments of the Environmental Protection Organization, denying the 'death' of Lake Urmia and claiming an 'increase of 140,000 hectares in the cultivated area of its watershed.' However, the release of comparative images of the current state of Lake Urmia with its past conditions or the current situations of similar lakes in the region has led to widespread protests from social media users regarding the environmental policies of the Islamic Republic over the past four decades. In this context, on August 8, social media users shared images from the year 1974, which also gained attention in domestic media; in it, an airplane carrying Iskander Firouz, the head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization, and Dr. Marlin Perkins, an American zoologist, flies over the water-rich Lake Urmia for research and scientific purposes.