Iranian police detained a number of environmental activists in Orumiyeh on Saturday for staging protests against the government for failing to mitigate the drastic desiccation of Lake Urmia, once hailed as the largest salt water lake in the Middle East. Activists warned of the lake’s imminent disappearance as water levels reach dangerously low levels.
Protesters rallied after a call for action was issued against the government for environmental negligence. As several hundred gathered, reports suggest additional riot-control units were dispatched to the region.
Iran International reported that at least thirteen protesters were arrested. The current status of the detainees remains undisclosed. Western Azerbaijan’s Chief of Police, Rahim Jahanbakhsh, branded the protesters “agitators” and condemned them for acting against the state.
Over the past thirty years Lake Urmia has declined in water volume by 95 percent. Situated in a mountainous region between the provinces of East and West Azerbaijan in northwestern Iran, Lake Urmia stands as one of the nation’s most crucial ecosystems, but has been diminishing since the 1990’s. The decline is attributed to a combination of factors, including prolonged drought, water diversion for agricultural purposes, and dam construction, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.
The monumental Lake Urmia – a prominent example of a hypersaline or exceptionally salinated body of water – provides sustenance to over six million residents who depend on agricultural activities in its vicinity. During its peak, Lake Urmia was the sixth-largest salt lake globally.