Iran cannot withstand the environmental costs of a escalated war, Mohammad Darvish, head on Environment committee in Iran branch of UNESCO, said following military strikes on Saturday on oil depots in Tehran.
The United States and Israel began to launch military strikes against Iran on Feb 28 as the talks between the United States and Iran on the latter's nuclear issue was underway.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has condemned the U.S.-Israeli strikes on the oil facilities, saying "The consequences of this environmental and humanitarian catastrophe will not be confined within Iran's borders."
Meanwhile, the United Nations also warned that 10 days of war in the Middle East are upending lives across the region and beyond, with toxic "black rain" linked to strikes on oil depots.
In an exclusive interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), Darvish stressed that strikes targeting water or energy infrastructure would bring grave consequences to Iran, which is already faced with serious environmental challenges.
"If the conflict expands to include attacks on infrastructure such as reservoir dams and power plants, it could take years to repair the damage. Iran already faces significant environmental crises. In terms of the severity of land subsidence, air pollution, biodiversity loss, increasing sources of dust storms, and the destruction of wetlands, the country is already under serious environmental pressure. Regarding the rate of land subsidence, Iran is among the countries that are already in a critical stage," said the environmentalist.
"Iran cannot withstand such wars because its land is fragile. This year Tehran is facing a 43 percent drought. Imagine if these already limited water resources were to become contaminated, it would become extremely difficult to provide drinking water for a population of around 10 million people," he noted.
Environmentalist says Iran's 'fragile land' cannot withstand further escalated conflicts
A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Wednesday slammed Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te over his latest remarks on cross-Strait relations, accusing him of promoting secessionism and escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said in a press release that Lai's speech marking his second anniversary in office was "filled with lies and deception, hostility and confrontation."
Chen accused Lai of stubbornly adhering to a secessionist stance in pursuit of "Taiwan independence," while exaggerating the so-called threats from the mainland and intensifying confrontation across the Strait.
Lai played an old trick of advocating the secessionist agenda on one hand and, on the other, calling insincerely for dialogue and exchanges with the mainland, attempting to mislead people in Taiwan and deceive the international community, he said.
Chen said that these common tricks have been seen through by more and more Taiwanese people. Their deceptive and provocative actions will be met with firm opposition from compatriots on both sides and the international community, and are doomed to fail.
Reaffirming the mainland's position on the Taiwan question, Chen said Taiwan has never been a country, is not one now, and will never become one in the future.
He described the Taiwan question as a historical issue left over from a Chinese civil war in the 1940s.
No election result in Taiwan could alter the fact that Taiwan is part of China or sever the historical and legal bonds linking the two sides of the Strait, according to Chen.
The mainland would never allow any person or force to pursue secessionist activities under any pretext, he added.
Calling secessionists "the chief culprit" who undermines cross-Strait peace, Chen said the mainland would continue to uphold the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, unite broadly with Taiwan compatriots, combat secessionist activities, and safeguard peace and stability across the Strait.
Central government spokesperson refutes Lai Ching-te's latest remarks, warns against secessionist moves
