By Faranak Bakhtiari

Quenching thirst of arid plains or jeopardizing nature?

TEHRAN – Transferring water from a basin to drought-ridden areas over varying distances is among the plans in Iran to quench the thirst of some provinces, while construction of such tunnels is inherently risky and can result in unpredicted events or irreparable environmental issue.

Iran, France discuss enhanced environmental co-op

TEHRAN – Iran’s Department of Environment (DOE) chief, Issa Kalantari, and France’s ambassador to Iran, Philippe Thiebaud, discussed increased cooperation on environmental issues during a meeting held in Tehran on Monday.

‘Flood devastation worsened by environmental degradation, improper planning’

TEHRAN – Ignoring technical issues in developing infrastructure of the water basin along with excessive soil erosion are what made the recent floods extremely devastating, director for wetland ecosystem office at the Department of Environment has said.

‘Water transfer from Sea of Oman entails no considerable environmental risk’

TEHRAN – Transferring water from Sea of Oman to central drought-ridden provinces of the country, provided that the environmental requirements are met, will not poses threats to the environment, Issa Kalantari, the Department of Environment (DOE) chief has announced.

Soil erosion reaches 16.7 tons per ha annually

TEHRAN – Soil erosion and pollution are the two major important environmental problems in the country, as some 16.7 tons of soil per hectare erodes annually, head of soil protection unit of the Forests, Range, and Watershed Management Organization has announced.