Iran Continues Environmental Abuses And Crackdown On Environmentalists  

(New York, N.Y.) — People and governments around the world are today reaffirming their commitment to protecting the planet’s biodiversity and natural resources in observance of Earth Day. Sadly, sustainable environmental policy is not universally prioritized. The Iranian regime remains one of the world’s most irresponsible and environmentally destructive in the world. It has an abysmal track record of environmental mismanagement, resulting in the depletion of Iran’s natural resources and the endangerment of its citizens’ health. 

On April 8, 2022, IQAir reported that Tehran had “the worst air quality index in the world,” with officials reporting a spike in hospital visits for heart and respiratory issues by 23 percent. The following day, Iran’s judiciary sentenced more than 20 Iranians to prison and lashes for their participation in a 2015 protest against a regime plan to accelerate already dangerous water scarcity in the Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari province by transferring its water to other regions. 

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)’s resource, Iran’s War On The Environment And Environmentalists, comprehensively exposes the Iranian regime’s disregard for the environment and suppression of environmentalists. The environmental deterioration in Iran caused by the regime’s corruption, incompetence, and mismanagement of environmental policy carries significant public health and regional security risks. Factors such as air and water pollution, water shortages, and loss of farmland have inflicted suffering upon Iranians across the country and in all walks of life. At the same time, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has waged war against experts who have advocated for more sound management of water resources in an effort to protect the profits of its construction arm, Khatam al-Anbiya. Iran faces an impending environmental crisis that has catalyzed massive protests in recent years and threatens to displace millions of its citizens, which should incentivize Tehran to adopt policy fixes. Instead, the regime has responded with repression and continued to prioritize short-term profits over the welfare of its people. 

To read UANI’s resource, Iran’s War on the Environment and Environmentalists, please click here. 

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