Iraq says negotiations with Iran over water supplies futile
Iran and Iraq have failed to reach agreement on water sharing, a senior official in the Iraqi Province of Basra said.
Jaber Ameen, the chairman of Basra’s provincial council, said Iraq “will have to rely on its own resources and capabilities” to solve its water shortages.
Water is in short supply for both agriculture and drinking.
Basra and its once fertile plateau dotted with palm-tree groves suffer most in the country due to rising salinity levels in the Shatt al-Arab Waterway.
“States look after their own interests even if their realization is at the expense of another people,” Ameen said. “Iran has interests and wants to have them realized even though their realization causes harm to Basra.”
Ameen’s statement signals the frustration of Basra authorities with neighboring Iran which had promised to at least meet the city’s drinking water needs.
Ameen urged the government to build a dam over the Shatt al-Arab Waterway to prevent fresh water discharging into the sea.
He also urged the construction of desalination plants such those in the oil-rich Arab Gulf states.
Source: Iraq says negotiations with Iran over water supplies futile By Abed Battat Azzaman in English
