{"id":111301,"date":"2026-05-13T06:37:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T06:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/111301\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T06:37:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T06:37:11","slug":"iraq-cracks-down-on-factories-polluting-euphrates-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/111301\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraq cracks down on factories polluting Euphrates River"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n 2026-05-13T06:07:15+00:00<\/p>\n

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Shafaq News- Al-Anbar<\/p>\n

Unlicensed factories along the
\nEuphrates River in Iraq\u2019s Al-Anbar are threatening water quality and
\nsurrounding ecosystems, prompting local authorities to move against violating
\nfacilities operating on the riverbanks.<\/p>\n

Qais Naji, director of Al-Anbar\u2019s
\nEnvironment Directorate, told Shafaq News that all such factories along the
\nEuphrates would face legal measures, adding that local authorities in
\nAl-Habbaniyah had formed a joint committee involving the Environment Directorate
\nand the district administration to monitor these activities under the
\nsupervision of District Commissioner Ali Dawood.<\/p>\n

Environmental teams, according to
\nNaji, are conducting regular field inspections and submitting official requests
\nto the Environment Ministry to issue closure orders against violating
\nfacilities, particularly in the Al-Khalidiya area along the Euphrates.
\nFactories that fail to comply with closure orders will be referred to the
\njudiciary under Iraq\u2019s Environmental Protection and Improvement Law No. 27 of
\n2009.<\/p>\n

Read more: Al-Anbar: An unfinished chapter in Iraq\u2019s water story<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Mohammed Ibrahim, an environmental
\nexpert, separately warned that untreated industrial waste discharged into the
\nriver could contaminate groundwater and water used for agriculture and
\ndrinking. Pollutants including heavy metals, oils, and chemical waste could
\naccumulate in the Euphrates, harming biodiversity, causing fish deaths, and
\ndegrading surrounding ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Unregulated industrial activity could
\nincrease thermal and chemical pollution in the river, negatively affecting
\nhuman health through the use of contaminated water for irrigation and drinking,
\nhe added, while continued violations without effective oversight could \u201cdeepen
\nenvironmental pressures\u201d through soil erosion, lower agricultural productivity,
\nand deteriorating water quality.<\/p>\n

In 2025, a study by researchers from
\nthe University of Al-Anbar also found biological oxygen demand (BOD5) levels in
\nthe Euphrates near Al-Khalidiya exceeded permissible limits, associating the
\ndeterioration with sewage, industrial, and agricultural pollution sources.<\/p>\n

Read more: Pollution gnaws at Iraq: Laws without teeth, fines without impact<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The warnings come as Iraq faces one
\nof its worst water crises in decades. A 2025 World Weather Attribution study
\ndescribed the year as Iraq\u2019s driest since 1933, with water levels in the Tigris
\nand Euphrates rivers dropping by up to 27%, while nearby Al-Habbaniyah Lake has
\nsuffered sharp declines due to drought, reduced Euphrates inflows, and rising
\nevaporation rates, according to NASA Earth Observatory.<\/p>\n

Read more: Iraq\u2019s water crisis deepens: Reserves collapse, mismanagement continues<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2026-05-13T06:07:15+00:00 font Enable Reading Mode A- A A+ Shafaq News- Al-Anbar Unlicensed factories along the Euphrates River in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[152,14325,38456,94,38455],"class_list":{"0":"post-111301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iraq","8":"tag-breaking","9":"tag-euphrates","10":"tag-illegal-factories","11":"tag-iraq","12":"tag-iraq-cracks-down-on-factories-polluting-euphrates-river"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116565891221890490","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}