TEHRAN – War, by its very nature, unleashes devastating environmental consequences. Aside from widespread damage to air and water quality, the conflict creates escalating waste management challenges, amplifies noise pollution, degrades soil fertility, destroys agricultural land, pastures, and orchards, decimates livestock populations, and exacerbates dust storm occurrences. The long-term ecological and societal ramifications threaten the well-being of communities across affected regions.
“The environment is a silent victim of wars,” stated Shina Ansari, Head of Iran’s Department of Environment, strongly condemning the American-Israeli actions. Unfortunately, the effects of wars persist for years on a land and its nature, she underlined.
“With every explosion, the environment is harmed. Bombs and explosives not only kill and injure fellow human beings but also hurt Mother Nature by sending toxic gases and particles into the air, threatening public health and safety.”
As mentioned by the official, the department has been proactively raising awareness about potential ecological repercussions of the attack, weeks before the war.
Talking to ISNA on Friday, Ansari said that she submitted a correspondence in January to environment ministers of Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, warning of environmental consequences tied to any military action considering the vulnerability of the Persian Gulf’s marine ecosystem.
According to her, the DoE also formally contacted the Secretary-General of the United Nations prior to the conflict, highlighting that the continuation of military threats in an area with concentrated oil, gas, petrochemical, and maritime infrastructure poses a perilous situation for regional and global peace, security, and the environment. However, these proactive diplomatic efforts yielded no immediate response.
Drawing on past experiences with regional conflicts, particularly those involving attacks on oil and industrial facilities, Ansari emphasized that the environmental effects of such actions are not confined to a specific timeframe or geographical area, often influencing generations. These consequences encompass widespread oil contamination, dissemination of toxic pollutants, and the destruction of coral ecosystems, collectively threatening the health of coastal communities.
Ansari also highlighted a pre-emptive letter sent to Ingird Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), in January, advocating for a more robust role of the organization in mitigating environmental risks arising from intensified military build-up in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea. In addition, she underscored UNEP’s mandate as a premier environmental authority within the United Nations, reiterating the need for a proactive and independent assessment of the consequences of increasing militarization, particularly given the ecological sensitivity of the region, the risk of massive oil pollution, habitat destruction, and biodiversity loss. These efforts were reportedly met with inaction.
In a reference to directly impacted vital environmental infrastructure, Ansari disclosed that 13 protected areas across various provinces of Fars, Ilam, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Khuzestan, Hamedan, Lorestan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, and Gilan, sustained damage during the 12-day Israeli-imposed war last year. “Beyond considerable wildfires, one environmental outpost was completely destroyed and other facilities, including environmental outpost offices and research centers, suffered damage.” Also, comprehensive assessments of natural area damage have been completed and submitted to relevant authorities.
Elsewhere in her remarks, the official stressed that perceived challenges of environmental impacts is often overlooked. The environmental consequences of missile strikes and wildfires impact beyond vegetation loss, disrupting habitat stability, causing wildlife deaths, and forcing migration to adjacent habitats poses a long-term threat to various wildlife populations across affected areas.
According to available data, the 12-day war of aggression against the Islamic Republic, the destruction of buildings left behind more than 150,000 tons of debris in Tehran alone. In that time, bombing fuel storage tanks, as an example, ignited nearly 19.5 million liters of fuel, sending dangerous pollutants and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Also, additional attacks on energy facilities in the South Pars region poured out even more harmful emissions.
Such emissions, according to Ansari, aren’t just local problems, they worsen the global climate crisis. At a time when countries everywhere are working hard to cut greenhouse gases and uphold international climate promises, wars like this undermine those efforts and add even greater strain to our fragile planet.
Reports show that the attacks during the 12-day war sparked wildfires across 13 protected areas in Iran, scorching around 9,000 hectares of land and destroying ranger stations and vehicles meant to safeguard these precious environments.
Regarding modern warfare, experts believe that their environmental cost is often ignored, citing their effects reach far beyond the conflict zone and affect the adjacent areas. Most modern warfare endanger ecosystems, human health, and the future of all who lives on Earth. “To truly address this crisis, environmental concerns must become a central part of global security conversations, and those responsible for such destruction must be held accountable as war criminals,” Ansari says.
“The damage that the Israeli regime’s military aggression caused to Iran’s environment and natural habitat, fauna, and flora must be seriously considered by relevant international mandate-holders and shall be documented as grave violations of international humanitarian law. This is a shared responsibility of each and every decent person of conscience who cares for the health and well-being of our planet.”
Without strong action taken by responsible bodies, the price of war will continue to extend well beyond the battlefield, threatening the planet and generations to come.
AM
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