President Hassan Rouhani has directed the Foreign Ministry to push for greater cooperation from the Iraqi government to help contain a protracted fire at a wetland straddling the common border.
"Head of the Department of Environment Isa Kalantari recently wrote a letter to Rouhani about the continuing blaze on the Iraqi side of the Hour al-Azim wetland and problems arising from it," said Ahmadreza Lahijanzadeh, director of the DOE's office in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, where the embattled wetland is located.
"In response, the president has ordered the Foreign Ministry to protest the Baghdad government's handling of the fire, which has been raging for too long, raising the possibility of arson," he told IRNA on Saturday.
That suspicion was first voiced earlier this month by Kalantari, who cited the Iraqi officials' delay in permitting the entrance of Iranian extinguishing aircraft which took around two weeks.
The fire in Hour-al Azim started in early July. The operations initiated around two weeks later after the Iraqi government finally permitted the entrance of Iranian aircraft. It was put out and the teams left Iraqi lands in late July, but the flames were soon rekindled forcing officials to resume the efforts.
Task Force
"The Supreme National Security Council convened a session on the Hour al-Azim fire a few days ago. It was decided that a task force comprised of officials from the Foreign Ministry, DOE, the governor general's office and other concerned organizations would soon travel to Iraq to negotiate on the issue," Lahijanzadeh added.
In his directive, Rouhani has called on the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps to assist with the firefight.
Kalantari had said the Iraqi government was not taking the smallest step to help address the problem and all extinguishing equipment had been provided by Iran.
Iran suspended its firefighting operations about two weeks ago because lack of cooperation from the Iraqi side had rendered the operations futile.
But Lahijanzadeh said the operation was resumed last week with the dispatch of a water-dropping aircraft to Iraqi territory.
Reportedly, 2,000 hectares of the Iranian parts of the wetland have been scorched by the constantly recurring fire.
Apart from that, the choking fumes have been blown toward urban and rural areas affecting up to six counties of Khuzestan at times.
Hour-al Azim has not received any water from its feeders this summer. The whole Iraqi side and large portions of the Iranian part are dry.
