Iranian environmental chief denies claim Lake Urmia on cusp of death

Head of Iranian Environment Protection Organization says Lake Urmia in Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province, is not on the verge of dying.

Ali Salajegheh said he visited the lake two weeks ago and that the situation there was better.

He added that the National Headquarters of Lake Urmia has been set up and now it has 700 million cubic meters of water.

According to the head of the Iranian Environment Protection Organization, water is going to be released from several dams into the lake in September.

Salajegheh stressed that All necessary measures have been put in place and good decisions have been made to cap unauthorized wells and do appropriate cultivation.

Over the past weeks, images of Lake Urmia on the verge of dying, has raised the alarm among many including environmentalists.

Also on the receding of the level of the Caspian Sea water, he said no single country is to blame for this phenomenon. Salajegheh also said all five littoral countries of the sea, Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan Republic, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, share the blame.

He however noted that the countries are ready to take measures to prevent the situation from worsening.

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