Iranian prominent actor calls for UN aid to save Lake Urmia

EghtesadOnline: Famous Iranian actor Reza Kianian in a letter to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged the world body to help Iran save the dying Lake of Urmia (Orumiyeh in Persian) which is the largest lake in the Middle East.

News ID: ۷۷۰۸۷۶

01 November 2016

Kianian, a supportor of the “I’m Lake Urmia” hashtag, handed over his letter on Monday to Gary Lewis, the UN resident coordinator in Iran, during a meeting which was held in the Iranian capital to this end.

The “I’m Lake Urmia” hashtag is a campaign initiated in late August by Iranian environmentalist Mohammad Khazaei. A large number of Iranians, artists in particular, supported the campaign, according to IRNA.

Some 1.7 million Iranians joined the campaing to raise global awareness about the shrinking lake in the north-western Iran whic is the sixth saltwater lake on earth.

'Periodical droughts, a lack of public awareness and coordination among regional countries, as well as flawed policies have all contributed to sever water scarcities affecting large areas in the region and especially across Iran,' Kianian wrote in his letter.

He added, 'Construction of unbridled dams, promoting heavy industries detrimental to the environment and domestic agriculture and most recently launching water transfer projects have all exacerbated the already scarce water resources.'

Kianian also urged the UN to help Iran save the lake by extending technical, scientific, and financial supports to the country.

'Presently, most lakes, lagoons and rivers across Iran have run dry or they are on the brink of drying out completely,' he said.

'Shrinkage we are witnessing in the Lake Urmia and the Lake Hamoon constitutes the worst environmental disasters in Iran.'