Water Crisis in Iran; Minister of Industry: Isfahan Will Connect to the Sea of Oman

The Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade of the Islamic Republic has claimed that the project "transfer of water from the Sea of Oman to Isfahan" will be implemented within a year. According to a report from the Isfahan governorate, Abbas Aliabadi, the Minister of Industry, during his visit to this province and after inspecting the water transfer project, stated that based on the planning done, this project will be operational by "the first half of next year." This senior official of the Islamic Republic announced that the main goal of the water transfer project from the southern coasts of the country to the central plateau of Iran is to supply water to the existing industrial sector in this region. The Minister of Industry stated that "all capacities" for utilizing this water transfer project have been "mobilized," mentioning that "200 kilometers" of the project's pipeline has been laid and large reservoirs are under construction at both the source and destination. In recent years, Isfahan province has witnessed numerous protests regarding water scarcity and mismanagement, which in the fall of 2021 was accompanied by widespread arrests of protesters and bloody repression of those present at gatherings on the dry bed of the Zayandeh Rud by the military forces of the Islamic Republic. The water crisis and its mismanagement are considered very serious challenges in various regions of Iran, to the extent that Mostafa Fadaei-Fard, the head of the "Specialized Committee for Flood Assessment of the National Committee of Large Dams in Iran," criticized the lack of a "comprehensive and reliable water plan in the country" in October 2021, stating that vast areas of Iran are at risk of "land subsidence" and the "inevitable migration of 37 million" people to the northern and western regions of the country. In recent decades, alongside the increasing water crisis in the country, various plans titled "water transfer" have always been proposed, plans that, despite some regional or industrial justifications, have had and continue to have staunch environmental and economic opponents. Meanwhile, several water and environmental experts, in conversations with the Persian section of "Voice of America," have warned about the continuation of the "critical water situation" in Iran and the "wrong policies" in this area, stating that if these policies continue, Iran will become a "burnt land." Nikahang Kowsar, a journalist and analyst on water and environmental issues, told Voice of America: "Drought exacerbates the critical water situation in Iran, but the main reason for this situation is poor management and wrong policies regarding water resources that have led Iran to a kind of man-made drought." Water scarcity and drought are among the most serious current and upcoming crises in many regions of Iran, and based on a research report in the "Open Data Iran" database published in June, "97 percent" of the total area of the country is experiencing "drought" due to reduced rainfall and increased temperatures. The increase in water disputes; water transfer projects have been excluded from "environmental assessment". The environmental disaster of the Khorasan Dam Three; destruction of thousands of hectares of forest and biological reserves in two provinces. Expressing despair about the revival of Lake Urmia; a member of parliament: there is no hope with "fantasy programs."