Araqchi made the remarks in a meeting on the Impact of Climate Change on Security held in the University of Tehran and called for paying more attention to water and environmental issues in the security framework of the West Asia.
“Intelligent trade is another important issue in the region,” he added and urged all countries to move toward intelligent imports and exports.
“The environmental issue in the Middle East is directly related to water and causes most of problems in the region,” he said.
“In 1955 three regional countries were listed as dry. In 1999 the figure increased to 12 countries, and in 2025 most of the countries namely Iran were added to the list,” he said referring to the fact that some 85% of West Asia is dry and semi-dry.'
“Water usage in Iran is 70% more than international standards,” he added.
He also pointed to budget shortage for building dams, resource management, the Zionist regime’s policies in expanding settlement constructions, increasing migration and stealing water by Israel as the factors creating crisis in the region.
“Border conflicts, security challenges, social tensions, conflicts between tribes and countries, wars, food and health threats are among other problems in the region,” Araqchi said.
Instability in the region, wars, tensions, different foreign policies, lack of trust among countries and terrorism have brought about problems in western Asia, he said.
“Despite being located in a region overwhelmed with chaos, Iran enjoys stability and security,” said the Iranian deputy foreign minister.
