Iranian and German officials have called for devising a roadmap for expanding cooperation in boundary waters and water management projects, including those on wastewater treatment.
According to Mehr News Agency, Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian has been invited to participate in an exhibition on water, sewage, waste and raw materials management (IFAT 2018) in Munich, Germany.
Ardakanian held a meeting on Tuesday with Germany’s Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Svenja Schulze on increasing ties in water and environmental fields.
Referring to Iran’s shared waters with neighboring countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq, Ardakanian called for the transfer of Germany’s experience for implementing Iran’s projects on the rivers of Hirmand and Arvand in east and west of the country, respectively.
Underlining the European country’s experience in implementing integrated water management in water-stressed regions of Iran, such as Zayanderud basin in the province of Isfahan, Ardakanian said, “Since late last year (ended March 20, 2018), the workgroup for managing water shortage has been established to adopt a unified approach on monitoring water resources, where we hope Germany would play an active role in such Iranian projects.”
According to reports, the current water year (started Sept. 23) has been a rare one in terms of poor rainfall and the worst in 40 years. Many provinces, including Kerman, South Khorasan and Sistan-Baluchestan, are experiencing up to 70% decline in precipitation.
Schulze also said water crisis is a global problem, adding that to solve the problem, regional and global cooperation is needed. Ardakanian plans to meet Germany’s Federal Minister of Economics and Energy Peter Altmaier in the next few days.
Ardakanian held a meeting with the German Ambassador to Iran Michael Klor-Berchtold last month, during which he said the two countries can increase cooperation in the fields of energy, such as water and solar power, which depends on receiving positive signs from Germany for the implementation of past agreements, IRNA reported.
According to the minister, Iran has signed agreements on financing power plant turbines, among others, with the German ministries of environment and economy. About the impact of US President Donald Trump's decision due on May 12 about remaining in or leaving the nuclear deal, the ambassador said, “The US president’s decision on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action will be Washington’s and not the decision of Europe.”
Klor-Berchtold stressed that Berlin has the political will to expand cooperation with Iran, even if the America’s decision regarding Iran is not desirable.
Germany accounts for about 60% of investments made by European Union states in Iran.
