Iran’s FM Dismisses Concerns on Radioactive Contamination of Border River
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian refuted reports that the Metsamor nuclear power plant in neighboring Armenia may have polluted the Aras border river with radioactive materials.
The foreign minister attended a meeting of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission in Tehran on Sunday.
Asked by a lawmaker, who represents two border counties in the northwestern province of Ardabil, Amirabdollahian dismissed concerns about the radioactive contamination of the Aras River.
The foreign minister said a technical report and verification activities of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran have dismissed any pollution of the Aras River caused by the operation of the Metsamor nuclear power plant in Armenia.
In August 2022, the Republic of Azerbaijan’s Trend News reported that the Metsamor nuclear power plant dumps 12,000-16,000 cubic meters of radioactive waste into the Aras River every day.
According to media reports, the Metsamor plant whose first unit came into operation in 1976 by the Soviet Union, has been expired years ago, but it is still operating and posing environmental threats to Turkey, Azerbaijan republic, Russia, Georgia, Iran and Kazakhstan.
German Ambassador to Baku Wolfgang Manig said that several years ago Germany had offered Armenia to build wastewater treatment plants to stop the pollution of the Aras river, but the issue has not yet been resolved, Azer News reported.
