TEHRAN, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Tuesday called on the Caspian Sea's littoral states to demonstrate a "collective determination" to halt the decline in the water level of the world's largest lake.
He made the remarks in an address to the annual summit of the foreign ministers of the five Caspian Sea littoral states, namely Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan, in the Russian capital Moscow, according to a statement posted on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's website.
"At present, we are faced with numerous environmental threats and challenges, the resolution of which needs collective cooperation among the five (Caspian Sea) littoral states," Amir-Abdollahian said.
He added the Caspian Sea's declining water level was one of the most important challenges, for which he blamed human and non-human factors, such as the decrease in the water level of the rivers flowing into the lake, climate change as well as the construction of dams, reservoirs and industrial and agricultural facilities on the inflowing rivers' routes.
The continuous decline in the Caspian Sea's water level over the past few years had had negative impacts on the port and shipping facilities as well as the lake's ecosystem, aquatic animals and unique wetlands and had led to a rise in the pollutants' level in coastal provinces.
"Addressing the challenge definitely requires the five littoral states' collective determination," he said, calling on the High-Level Working Group for the Caspian Sea to, in cooperation with the relevant authorities and organizations of the littoral states, place the issue high on its agenda by adopting a scientific and operational approach.
In August, the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) warned of a significant decline in the water level of the Caspian Sea over the past years, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The ISA studies based on satellite images demonstrated that during the past years, particularly the past 24 months, the northern part of the Caspian Sea had seen an advancement of the coastline due to a decrease in its water level, while its southern part remained little changed, Tasnim quoted ISA Spokesman Hossein Dalirian as reporting.
Quoting an Iranian environmental official Mojtaba Zoljoudi, Tasnim said the Caspian Sea's water level had decreased by 26 centimeters during the 12-month period to March 2023 and by nearly two meters since 1996.
The report blamed the shrinkage of the Volga River's water flow into the Caspian Sea as a primary reason for the decline in the lake's water level. ■
