TEHRAN – The sixth international conference on the Persian Gulf oceanography is scheduled to be held on January 27 and 28, 2026.

Held every four years, the Iran Meteorological Organization will host the conference this year in Bandar Abbas, a port city bounded by the Persian Gulf. It will bring together local and global experts and researchers in different fields, including meteorology, atmospheric sciences, oceanography, climatology, Physics, Geography, and remote sensing, IRIB reported.

The event serves as a great platform for sharing knowledge, latest scientific achievements, as well as strengthening national and global cooperation in oceanography and the marine environment sectors.

It is centered around marine meteorology, physical oceanography, climate change, and its effects on coastal areas, marine and oceanic science, utilization of marine resources, marine environment, as well as culture, history, and economy of the sea.

Development of applied research, sustainable exploitation of marine resources, coastal environment protection, and sustainable sea-based development are among the main goals of the conference, IRIB quoted Farah Mohammadi, an official with the Meteorological Organization, as saying.

Highlighting the significance of benefiting from modern technologies, including artificial intelligence, and remote sensing in protecting the Persian Gulf and enhancing the resilience of local communities, the official said scientific findings of the sixth conference will help pave the way for making main decisions and adopting best strategies for marine management, and will contribute to sustainable sea-based development. These findings will be applicable in various maritime sectors, not just the maritime geography of the Persian Gulf.

The 5th International Conference on Persian Gulf Oceanography kicked off in Tehran in January 2022. The two-day conference was attended by representatives from Belarus, Finland, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Ukraine, Pakistan, and Russia, as well as officials related to marine and port development.

Precious marine environment

The Persian Gulf is a valuable water body in terms of ecosystem and biodiversity, but has been affected severely due to different depleting factors, including oil pollution, extraction, and transportation.

The Persian Gulf has an area of about 241,000 square kilometers. Its length is some 990 km, and its width varies from a maximum of about 340 km to a minimum of 55 km in the Strait of Hormuz.

It has its own environmental characteristics, as it is a semi-closed sea, aging 15,000 years, with an average depth of 35 meters, while being highly salty with severe heat fluctuations, and an annual evaporation rate of 140 cm.

There are 2 species of dolphins and whales in the area, in addition to 1,100 species of fish and 5 species of turtles. The Persian Gulf also hosts the second largest population of manatees, 232 seaweed species, and 4 million migratory birds annually, but today, 240 important species and many habitats are under threat.

Out of the 21 largest oil spills in the world, 7 cases occurred in this water body, which is threatening the aquatic ecosystem.

Hassan Mohammadi, the coordinator of the Regional Organization for the Protection of Marine Environment (ROPME), said in December 2019 that studies show that as the current environmental issues continue, by the end of the century, about 20 percent of native species in the Persian Gulf will be extinct and 10 percent of new species that might be invasive will replace them.

MT/MG