Joint Office to manage Shatt al- Arab

baghdad-INA

The Ministry of Water Resources outlined on Thursday, the reasons for postponing talks with Iran on the water issue, while noting the intention  of a joint office for the management of the Shatt al-Arab waters.
 
"The ministry's goal is to reach an agreement with neighboring Iran, especially this year’s drought is severe with the expectation that next year will also be dry, which necessitates the work of agreements," ministry adviser Aoun Dhiab told the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
 
"Unfortunately, the elections in Iran is the reason for the disruption of the issue, although the Minister of Resources met with those concerned in the Iranian Ministry of Energy during his visit to Iran, for the purpose of solving the problems, but they have not yet been resolved, and Iraq is now also ahead of the elections," he said, expressing hope that "Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi will intervene to resolve this matter."
 
"There is an argument on the 1975 Convention, because it is the reference point for entering into negotiations with them, as it has an annex protocol that defines and classifies this subject as well, and there are many established standards that serve us in this concern," he said.
"The agreement has remained suspended because of war, and it must be activated, especially since we are suffering from the water problem because of a severe drought in Al-Hawiza marsh, because the main supplier is the Karkha River in Iran, which was cut off entirely by Iran, after we saw its large influx in 2019 and almost caused us to drown in Majnoon," Dhiab said.
"If we discuss the agreement, everything contains solutions, in order to resolve the issue of river borders and demarcation of the border, from which we proceed to the issue of managing Shatt al-Arab with Iran within a joint office," he said, noting that "the environment of Shatt al-Arab is threatened annually because of the seriously rise of salts and we must have discussions to reach the goal."
 
"As a result of the lack of a positive reaction, we have requested asylum to internationalize the case and go to the International Court of Justice, as it is the one that relies on the data that we have and pushes us to win the case," Dhiab said, calling for "diplomatic development by the government."
 
"Regarding the drought in Hawiza, we started sulotions that it needs large amounts of water and this issue is subject to several considerations, and the work is currently in place regarding the central marshes because we have good water in Jabaish and al-hammar , the problem is in Al-Hawiza marsh only, the sources of internal supplier we have not been able to deliver the quantities of water from them, because of the summer planting season," he said.