An Iranian university professor and researcher says the Turkish government’s regional development plans, including projects to build dams on the Aras River, will dry up three of Iran’s provinces.
Morad Delalat said at an event at Tehran’s Islamic Azad University that the so-called East Anatolia Project, known in Turkey as DAP, would “directly entangle” Iran.
“The purpose of the SDF is to exert strong pressure on downstream countries and cause them political, economic, social and security problems,” Delalat asserted.
He said the project involves the construction of 90 to 120 dams on the Aras. One such dam, one of the largest ever built, has already reduced the flow of water from Aras by 30 percent.
The project, when fully implemented, will affect three provinces of Iran: West, East Azerbaijan and Ardabil, he said.
Delalat said another Turkish plan, the so-called Southeast Anatolia Project, or GAP, had drained Iraq, which in turn affected Iran’s Khuzestan province.
Iran is currently involved in a dispute with the Taliban government in Afghanistan over the construction of a dam on the Helmand River and drought in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province.
Iran has warned the Taliban to stop the flow of water to Iran, according to the agreement reached in 1973.