Commenting on the meeting, Iran’s Ministry of Environment official Alzezou Ashrafizadeh said: “At this meeting, a comprehensive report was presented on the latest situation in Khor al-Azim, known as Hawizeh wetlands, on the Iraqi side of the border.”
“In these talks, Iran reiterated the need to manage the resources and use of the Tigris River to meet the water needs of the Khor al-Ajin swamp. The aim is to prevent the intensification of fires in the Iraqi part of the swamp and the migration of pollution to Iran’s Khuzestan province,” she said.
“The Iraqi side has submitted a detailed report on the water situation in the reservoirs of the dams built on the Tigris River and the severe drought prevailing in the basin, and has pledged to make maximum efforts to water the wetlands in the new water year.”
Other topics discussed at the meeting, Ashrafizadeh said, included cooperation between Iran and Iraq in the use of planes and helicopters for firefighting and wetland management, adding that “commitments were obtained from the Iraqi authorities to provide all necessary permits and facilities for the operation of Iranian aircraft needed to extinguish possible forest fires in wetlands.”
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