Tehran. Iran has demanded compensation for the environmental damage caused by oil spills in the Persian Gulf and surrounding sea areas over the past few decades.
Ismail Baghai, spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that all parties benefiting from the passage of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz have a legal and moral responsibility to mitigate and restore the environmental damage caused in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.
On Wednesday, a thick layer of oil was seen on a coastline of Iran’s Qeshm Island near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran presented this incident as a visible example of the widespread marine pollution that has been occurring in the Gulf region for decades.
According to Baghai, the pollution in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman has severely affected the marine ecosystem. ‘This incident is just one visible example of widespread pollution – both overt and hidden – that has destroyed the water of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman and the region’s marine ecosystem in recent decades, causing trillions of dollars in damage to Iran’s coastal areas,’ Bakai said.
He also raised the question of who would bear the responsibility for the damage, claiming that the damage to Iran’s coastal areas amounts to trillions of dollars. Bakai also asked whether the countries consuming cheap energy, the insurance companies of the ships, or the aggressors and their partners who turn the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman into a testing ground for military activities and powerful weapons would take responsibility for the damage.
Meanwhile, Oman’s Environment Authority has stated that oil leakage from a sanctioned tanker carrying Russian crude oil has reached some coastlines in Ras Madrakah in the country’s southeastern region.