Iraqi MP threatens to deprive Turkey, Iran of 20 billion USD
Dried water canal in Iraq. Photo: AFP
Baghdad (IraqiNew.com) – The Iraqi Deputy Speaker of Parliament and leader in the Sadrist movement, Hakim al-Zamili, threatened to boycott Turkish and Iranian goods if Turkey and Iran continued to cut off water from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
The Iraqi official explained that Turkey started to cut off water supplies to Iraq by 80 percent, and Iran completely cut off the water flowing to Iraqi cities.
In a conference held at the Ministry of Water Resources, Zamili threatened that the Iraqi Parliament will decide to boycott Turkish and Iranian goods if the cutting off of water from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers continued.
Zamili indicated that the two neighboring countries of Iraq have enough water levels but they insist on cutting off the water flow to Iraq. He threatened to stop the 20 billion USD Iraq pays to both countries in a form of trade exchange.
Zamili elaborated that political conflicts, non-compliance with international agreements related to water release, as well as the absence of governmental laws that put pressure on the two countries caused the water cut.
Zamili called on the Ministry of Water Resources and the concerned governmental authorities to put pressure on Turkey and Iran to reach a solution to overcome this crisis.
During the past months, Iraq experienced a severe water crisis in several cities after amounts of water received from Turkey and Iran significantly decreased because of the construction of dams at headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
According to statistics published by the government, 40.2 million Iraqis currently consume 71 billion cubic meters of water.
In 2035, the Iraqi population is going to exceed 50 million, and the available water is expected to be decreased to 51 million cubic meters per year after the completion of off-border projects on the rivers.