SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq warned Iran that it would resort to international community to secure its water rights if Tehran did not release more water down rivers in Diyala province.
Iraq is facing water shortages due to low rainfalls and reduction of water flows from Iran and Turkey.
The two neighboring countries are holding back water to fill reservoirs, a step that has alarmed Iraq and caused shortages in the country.
“We will resort to international community to secure our water rights from Iran if Tehran insists on cutting off all water resources and its refusal to comply with agreements,” Hamdani said in a press conference in Diyala province.
He further said the Iranian side had not responded to Iraq’s request to halt reducing water flows and that it was still cutting off flows to Sirwan, karun, Karkheh and Alwand rivers, causing severe damage to the residents in Diyala province.
“If Iran continues to not coordinate with Iraq in accordance with the international conventions, we will unwillingly resort to the United Nations to secure our rights in rivers and shared resources with Iran,” he noted.
Hamdani also said Iranian side had promised to hold a meeting scheduled for mid-June after the presidential elections but that it had yet to happen.
Iraq is mostly desert. Its inhabitable areas are fed by the Tigris from Turkey, the Euphrates from Turkey and Syria, and a network of rivers from Iran.
In May, spokesman of the Iraqi water resources ministry Ali Radi said levels of water in the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers had dropped by 50% compared to last year.
In 2011, former Iraqi minister of agriculture Izzedine al-Dawla said millions of Iraqis might have no access to clean water in 15 to 20 years.
“Our expectation is that after 15 to 20 years the people in the provinces will wake up to find no safe water for drinking and agriculture in the Tigris and Euphrates,” al-Dawla said.
Water shortages pose a big challenge for Iraq due to a rising population, depletion of resources, lack of rainfall and advancing desertification, according to officials.
