Environmentalist says Iran's 'fragile land' cannot withstand further escalated conflicts

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

Soaring oil prices triggered by escalating tensions in the Middle East have heightened U.S. inflation pressures, with analysts warning that households face hundreds of dollars in extra costs if crude climbs further.

Data released on Tuesday by the American Automobile Association (AAA) showed that the national average price of regular gasoline in the United States has risen 18.64 percent compared with Feb. 26. The AAA data also indicated that the national average price of diesel on Tuesday was up 22.85 percent from a week earlier.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at global ratings agency Moody's, warned that U.S. consumers are being threatened by a sharp rise in fuel prices. He said that if international oil prices climb by another 10 U.S. dollars per barrel, annual spending for an average U.S. household would increase by about 450 dollars.

Zandi noted that a surge in oil prices would intensify inflationary pressure in the United States, eroding consumers' purchasing power and weighing on consumption, economic growth, and employment.

Tensions sharply escalated across the Middle East on Feb 28 when the United States and Israel launched large-scale joint airstrikes on Iran. The Iranian side has responded with multiple waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and U.S. assets across the region, hitting many countries in the Gulf.

Escalating Middle East tensions drive up energy prices, squeezing US consumers