Iran--"'The main problem that threatens us [and is] more dangerous than Israel, America or political fighting... is that the Iranian plateau is becoming uninhabitable,' presidential adviser Issa Kalantari warned in the newspaper Ghanoon. 'If this situation is not reformed, in 30 years Iran will be a ghost town.'" "The annual cost of Iran's environmental degradation already amounts to a whopping 5 percent to 10 percent of GDP, according to the World Bank. In contrast, tough U.S. and international sanctions shrunk Iran's GDP by some 1.4 percent in 2012."

1. Iran--"'The main problem that threatens us [and is] more dangerous than Israel, America or
political fighting... is that the Iranian plateau is becoming uninhabitable,' presidential adviser
Issa Kalantari warned in the newspaper Ghanoon. 'If this situation is not reformed, in 30
years Iran will be a ghost town.'"
"The annual cost of Iran's environmental degradation already amounts to a whopping 5
percent to 10 percent of GDP, according to the World Bank. In contrast, tough U.S. and
international sanctions shrunk Iran's GDP by some 1.4 percent in 2012."
Comments: But contrast to the above percentages, Iran probably spends about 12 percent of
its Gross Domestic Product on nuclear industries. Let me see--17 major nuclear installations
costing up to five hundred billion dollars over the last fifteen years.
No. Iran's number one priority is acquiring nuclear weapons. Let the desert take care of itself.
May I remind you in the words of that wondrous game called "Civilization" that in a
totalitarian society there are by definition no unhappy people.
Hassan Aqajani, an adviser to Iran's health minister announced that 4,460 people have died
from air pollution in Tehran in a one-year period since March 2011, AFP reports. The
announcement came just as a five-day closure of government offices, schools, and banks
because of air pollution came to an end -- the second such shutdown in a month.
David Michel in The Iran Primer: "Iran faces growing environmental challenges that are now
more perilous to the country's long-term stability than either foreign adversaries or domestic
political struggles. More than two-thirds of the country's land-up to 118 million hectares-is
rapidly turning into desert, Iran's Foreign Range and Watershed Management Organization
reported in mid-2013. 'The main problem that threatens us [and is] more dangerous than
Israel, America or political fighting... is that the Iranian plateau is becoming uninhabitable,'
presidential adviser Issa Kalantari warned in the newspaper Ghanoon. 'If this situation is not
reformed, in 30 years Iran will be a ghost town.' He described an alarming future of
desiccated lakes and depleted groundwater, potentially driving millions of Iranians from their
homes. Iran now ranks 114 of 132 countries evaluated on 22 environmental indicators,
including water resources, air pollution, biodiversity and climate change, according to the
2012 Environmental Performance Index compiled by Yale and Columbia Universities... The
damage - from water stress, desertification and pollution--could impose debilitating burdens
long-term. The annual cost of Iran's environmental degradation already amounts to a
whopping 5 percent to 10 percent of GDP, according to the World Bank. In contrast, tough
U.S. and international sanctions shrunk Iran's GDP by some 1.4 percent in 2012, according to
the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Over time, valuable resources will be further
depleted, productivity diminished, and public health damaged. Mismanagement has
contributed to Iran's environmental problems. Its cities lose one-third of their water supplies
in leaky pipes. Irrigation is also highly inefficient; more than half of Iran's renewable water
used in agriculture is lost. Surmounting Iran's environmental challenges will require serious
reorientation of policies and resources. The cost of new technologies, conservation practices
and other measures to meet projected water needs in 2050 could top $3 billion a year, experts
say. Iran has recently taken important steps in the right direction. Subsidy reforms initiated in
2010 will gradually require consumers to absorb the actual costs of water supplies, enhancing
the incentives to be efficient. Revenues saved from cutting back energy subsidies are

2. intended to support initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. But the
subsidy reforms stalled after phase one. They were also not designed or intended to deal with
environmental challenges. Iran's looming environmental crisis will require a comprehensive
green revolution in national policy-making." http://t.uani.com/1dlEXOh