Envoy: Tehran To Use Its Share Of Aras River To Revive Oroumiyeh Lake

Baku, Aug 3, IRNA – Islamic Republic of Iran’s ambassador to Azerbaijan Republic said here Friday that Iran will use its own share of Aras boarder river to revive the Oroumiyeh Lake. “Iran and Azerbaijan have been cooperating in issue of taking advantage of the Aras River water for over 42 years and a legal system on taking advantage of the watershed bed of this river does exist between the two countries,” Said Ambassador Mohsen Paka’ien at a press conference in response to a question on Iran’s method for taking advantage of Aras River. He further elaborated that the Islamic Republic of Iran has a plan for using its share of the boarder river, adding, We have reached agreement with the Azeri side on transferring our share of the Aras River to Oroumiyeh Lake, resorting to the logic that each side has the right to take advantage of its own share.” The Iranian envoy meanwhile referred to the sensitivity of Azerbaijani media about Oroumiyeh Lake, adding, “The plan for transferring Aras River’s water to Oroumiyeh Lake aimed at solving the problem with which that lake has been entangled is a new plan, whose implementation will take two to three years.” He pointed out that that no illegal move is going to take place in this respect and the concerned organizations in Azerbaijan Republic, too, are well aware of the details. The Iranian envoy added, “In this plan the excess amount of Aras River’s water will be transferred to Oroumiyeh Lake; there are times that after torrential rains the river’s water level rises and this causes floods; based on this plan this excess amount of water will be injected to Oroumiyeh Lake. Oroumiyeh lake is a salt lake in northwestern Iran near Irans border with Turkey. The lake is between the Iranian provinces of Irans East Azerbaijan province and West Azerbaijan province, west of the southern portion of the similarly shaped Caspian Sea. It is the largest lake in the Middle East, and the third largest saltwater lake on earth, with a surface area of approximately 5,200 square kilometers (2,000 square miles), 140 km (87 mi) length, 55 km (34 mi) width, and 16 m (52 ft) depth. It is protected as a national park by the Iranian Department of Environment. On August 2, 2012, the head of Irans Environment Protection Organization, Mohammad-Javad Mohammadizadeh, announced that Iran and Armenia have agreed on transferring water from Armenia to counter the critical fall in Oroumiyeh Lakes water levels. He also remarked, Hot weather and a lack of precipitation have brought the lake to its lowest water levels ever recorded. That recovery plans for the lake include the transfer of water from Eastern Azerbaijan Province. Previously, Iranian authorities had announced a plan to transfer water from the Aras River, which borders Iran and Azerbaijan; the 9,500-billion-rial (about 30 million US dollars) plan was abandoned due to Azerbaijan's objections.