Three-fifths of the Hour-ol-Azim wetlands have dried out due to non-standard oil extraction.
Jasem Marmazi, the Khuzestan governor’s advisor on environmental issues, told ISNA that the Oil Company’s recent oil-extraction activities are the chief reason that the Hour-ol-Azm Wetlands are drying out.
Large camps and wide roads have seriously interfered with the ecosystem of the wetlands, according to Marmazi.
The Hour-ol-Azim Wetland is the largest wetland in Khuzestan, located at the end of the Karkheh River in the border region of Azadegan between Iran and Iraq. One third of the wetland is in Iran and the rest is in Iraqi territory.
Marmazi stressed that the drying out of the wetlands has numerous consequences, including the exacerbation of dust storms that are becoming more and more prevalent in the region.
Iran’s ongoing water crisis includes the decline of its 40 wetlands, each of which has been reduced in area by 20 to 80 percent.
