Ebtekar Office: MP's Statements on Lake Urmia Are Inaccurate
Office of Masoumeh Ebtekar, Vice President and Head of the Environmental Protection Agency in the government of Mr. Seyyed Mohammad Khatami
The office of Masoumeh Ebtekar, Vice President and Head of the Environmental Protection Organization in the government of Mr. Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, regarding the issue raised in the recent interview of Ms. Somayeh Rafiei, a respected member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stated that the issues raised by her regarding the excavation of Lake Urmia were unrealistic and ambiguous, and it seems that her sources of information about the background of the issues are not accurate.
During the seventh government, the Department of Environmental Protection warned about the dangers of drying up the lake by conducting extensive studies. In the eighth government, an intersectoral and inter-provincial working group was formed for the optimal management of the lake and any interference and encroachment, such as a bypass road, was stopped without an environmental impact assessment.
Regardless of the claims that began with the ninth government, it is possible to verify among the trends, the history of scientific and executive actions, and the ups and downs of improving or deteriorating the situation.
