The Iranian parliamentarian representing Urmu city Mr. Hadi Behrudi has told the Iranian news agencies that the Ministry of Energy has taken another step to drying up the lake Urmia by directing the river water intended to flow into Lake Urmu last year.

“In the current conditions, it’s time to release the water from the dams into the Lake Urmia. We want the Ministry of Energy to take the necessary measures to discharge the water into the Lake Urmia.
This year, the volume of water collected in the dams is much higher than last year, so there is no reason to avoid the water release, Behrudi added.

Accoring to H. Bahaduri (pictured below) , Last year, the water level in the lake was about 1270.63 meters, and now it is 1270.59 meters which means the water level is about 4.5 meters lower than the level it should have been.

It is reported that currently, there are 64 water points in Urmu Lake water basin and 27 are under construction which prevent river water from flowing into the lake, and thus the drying process in the lake accelerates.
Many South Azerbaijanis argue that the central regime of Tehran has been deliberately accelerating the lake’s extinction in order to force the “problematic” ethnic Turks of the region to immigrate to central Iran. Salt storms have already been ruining the agriculture in the region and forcing the residents to relocate.