Rohani: Gulf Countries are Taking Iranian Soil for Their Own Purposes

One day after the head of the Environmental Protection Organization warned about the "smuggling" of Iranian soil, the President of Iran also announced that the Gulf countries "are taking Iranian soil for agriculture and other purposes by boat." According to the state news agency IRNA, Hassan Rohani, on Tuesday, December 22, in a speech referring to the importance of preserving water and soil, stated that "if we lose these two, we will have nothing in the long term." He added, "We want sustainable agricultural development; we must not allow soil to be destroyed. In the southern Gulf countries, you see how valuable soil is, and they are taking Iranian soil for agriculture and other purposes by boat." Mr. Rohani also referred to the preservation of water, soil, and the environment as "fundamental principles" and added, "If we try, we can harvest more with less land and water." A day before Mr. Rohani's remarks, Masoumeh Ebtekar, head of the Environmental Protection Organization, had warned about the "smuggling" of soil from southern Iran. Ms. Ebtekar pointed to the smuggling of soil from Hormuz Island, stating that this organization has repeatedly expressed its concerns in writing to the Forests, Rangelands, and Watershed Management Organization and the Ministry of Agriculture. The head of the Environmental Protection Organization emphasized that "soil is very valuable, and its smuggling is considered a threat; therefore, we will present the soil protection bill, which is under review, to the parliament as soon as possible." Previously, reports had also emerged about the transfer of agricultural soil from Iran to Gulf countries. For instance, Abbas Papizadeh, spokesman for the Agricultural Commission of the ninth parliament, stated in 2013 that agricultural soil from Iran is "exported" to Gulf countries, especially Qatar and the UAE, and these countries "even obtain soil for their gardens and greenhouses" from agricultural soil of other countries. He announced that according to the law, the export of agricultural soil is prohibited, but the export of sand, gravel, stone, and various minerals has no restrictions. Mr. Papizadeh emphasized that producing one square centimeter of soil takes more than 400 years. Nasser Maqdesi, deputy of the Forests, Rangelands, and Watershed Management Organization, announced on December 19 that soil smuggling is prohibited and will be dealt with, but this practice continues. According to existing laws, the export of industrial soil is only possible with a permit from the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade.