Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Water use · Iran · 2007–2026

Hoor al-Azim wetland, oil-field development and dikes in Khuzestan

Nature's voice · report
My area fell from about 124,000 ha in the early 1970s to 60,650 ha, according to Shahid Beheshti University data reported by Reuters.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Recorded
  • I was split into seven parts, and platforms ringed by embankments and roads stand in four of my Iranian reservoirs, according to SNN. SNN (Student News Network)
  • When wetland area in Khuzestan fell below about 60 km², dust events rose to 20–35, a 2025 study of 2010–2022 found; each 1 km² lost was associated with about 0.03 more PM10 polluted days and 0.05 more PM2.5 polluted days. Yousefi-Kebriya et al., Scientific Reports (NASA MODIS abstract)
  • In 2024–2025 I dried and caught fire, and in early May 2025 thousands of hectares burned, according to local media reported by Reuters. Context (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
  • In 2025–2026 I was partly refilled in late winter and spring, and the water fell again in summer, according to the Department of Environment. Tehran Times
What the record lacks: 4 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 5 disputed See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Whether and how far oil development dried the wetland
  • Government and regulators Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad (Ahvaz, February 2025): "We are the ones who dried up the wetland, and we are the ones who hurt the people of Khuzestan" (English rendering by Reuters). Business Day (Reuters)
  • Communities and civil society Ismail Kahrom, ecologist (to Mehr, July 2021): The Ministry of Petroleum drained parts of the wetland to drill test wells; "they sacrificed water for oil". Iran International
  • Government and regulators Former Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh (2015, 2019): Opposed drying Hoor al-Azim for oil extraction, calling a Karun-fields project that would have dried it "a betrayal of future generations"; in 2019 said the ministry would never accept harm to people to produce a few thousand more barrels. SNN (Student News Network)
  • Government and regulators Oil Ministry position as summarised by SNN (2022): Denied wanting the wetland dry; would treat the area like an offshore field and build platforms if it were reflooded. SNN (Student News Network)
  • Researchers Hossein Hashemi (Lund University) and Kaveh Madani (UNU-INWEH) to Reuters, 2025: Hashemi: "These marshes once acted as natural barriers, trapping fine sediments and maintaining soil moisture"; Madani: "Sand and dust storms and wildfires are examples of the complex problems that are going to require complex solutions". Business Day (Reuters)
Whether the Supreme National Security Council ordered the drying in 2010
  • Government and regulators Masoumeh Ebtekar, former head of the Department of Environment (July 2021): Backed statements that the Supreme National Security Council ordered the drying in 2010 over the DoE's objection. Iran International
  • Government and regulators Ahmad-Reza Lahijanzadeh, Department of Environment deputy (2021): The decision was tied to Chinese contractors unwilling to use costlier technology; the technology Japanese firms had used at Azadegan and Yadavaran did not require drying. Iran International
  • Government and regulators Ahmad Midari, deputy welfare minister (2021): Officials at the time thought drying would create jobs. Iran International
  • Government and regulators Oil Ministry (as summarised by SNN, 2022): Denied wanting the wetland dry. SNN (Student News Network)
Length of the border dike on the Iranian side

Parts of the Iranian side of the transboundary Hawizeh marshes in Khuzestan were enclosed by dikes and roads around the Azadegan and Yadavaran oil fields. Reuters quoted Iran's oil minister in 2025 as saying "We are the ones who dried up the wetland"; no compensation or restoration budget specific to the wetland is on record.

124,000 → 60,650 haWetland area, early 1970s to 2025 (Shahid Beheshti University data, via Reuters)
Hoor al-Azim, the Iranian part of the Hawizeh marshes, as reported by Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation on 21 May 2025.

Status As of September 2026: the Department of Environment reported the wetland partly refilled and then falling again; no court case or compensation on record.

What?
Parts of the Iranian side of the Hawizeh marshes were enclosed by dikes and roads around the Azadegan and Yadavaran oil fields. The wetland shrank from about 124,000 ha in the early 1970s to 60,650 ha, and Iran's oil minister was quoted in 2025 as saying "We are the ones who dried up the wetland". Business Day (Reuters)
Where?
Khuzestan province, Iran–Iraq border, west of Hoveyzeh and Susangerd; fed mainly by the Karkheh river and the Tigris. Context (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
When?
Iranian border dike built c. 1999–2003 (SNN) and a 65 km dike since 2009 (Reuters); oil contracts 2007–2014; 2010 order claimed by officials; floods in 2019; drying and fire in 2024–2025; minister's statement in February 2025. SNN (Student News Network)
Who?
Gained
  • CNPC and Sinopec — Oil development contracts worth about US$2.5 billion (South Azadegan, terminated in 2014) and about US$2 billion (Yadavaran, initial estimate) Energy Daily (AFP)
Lost
  • NIOC / Iran — Terminated the South Azadegan contract in 2014 with seven of 185 first-phase wells drilled Gulf News (AFP)
Harmed
Why?
Officials attributed the drying to a 2010 Supreme National Security Council order tied to Chinese contractors unwilling to use costlier technology (Ebtekar, Lahijanzadeh); the Oil Ministry denied wanting the wetland dry; the Department of Environment (2026) points to inflow, water rights and transboundary cooperation. Iran International
How?
Embankments, roads and platforms ringed oil facilities in four Iranian reservoirs; a 65 km border dike divided the marsh (Reuters). SNN (Student News Network)
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Hoor al-Azim is the Iranian part of the transboundary Hawizeh marshes in Khuzestan province, on the Iran–Iraq border, fed mainly by the Karkheh river and the Tigris. SNN reported in March 2022 that the wetland was split into seven parts: five reservoirs in Iran, one zone between the Iranian and Iraqi border dikes, and one Iraqi part. From the mid-2000s Iran built oil facilities in its part, and reservoirs 1, 3, 4 and 5 contain platforms ringed by embankments and roads. Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation reported a 65 km Iranian dike along the border since 2009; an Iraqi ecologist (Nature Iraq, 2018) reported a 90 km soil embankment on the Iranian side in 2011.

The oil development rested on contracts with Chinese state companies. Sinopec signed the Yadavaran contract in Tehran on 9 December 2007, with an initial cost estimate of about US$2 billion according to Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari (AFP). CNPC signed a US$2.5 billion South Azadegan contract in late 2009; seven of 185 first-phase wells had been drilled when the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) terminated it on 29 April 2014, citing "non-compliance" (AFP via Gulf News).

In July 2021 ecologist Ismail Kahrom told Mehr: "The Ministry of Petroleum has drained parts of the Hur al-Azim wetland to drill test wells." Former Department of Environment (DoE) head Masoumeh Ebtekar backed statements that the Supreme National Security Council had ordered the drying in 2010 over the DoE's objection. DoE deputy Ahmad-Reza Lahijanzadeh said the decision was tied to Chinese contractors unwilling to use costlier technology, and that the technology Japanese firms had used at Azadegan and Yadavaran did not require drying. Deputy welfare minister Ahmad Midari said officials at the time thought drying would create jobs. No published document of the 2010 decision is on record.

In February 2025 Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said in Ahvaz, in Reuters' English rendering of his Persian remarks: "We are the ones who dried up the wetland, and we are the ones who hurt the people of Khuzestan." Former Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh had said on Earth Day 2015 that he opposed a Karun-fields project that would have dried the wetland, calling it "a betrayal of future generations"; in 2022 SNN summarised the Oil Ministry's position as denying that it wanted the wetland dry. Floods refilled the wetland in 2019. In 2024–2025 it dried and caught fire; in early May 2025 thousands of hectares burned, local media reported. A late-winter and spring refill in 2025–2026 was followed by a fall in summer, the DoE said in September 2026.

A 2025 study in Scientific Reports of wetland shrinkage and dust in Khuzestan (2010–2022) found a correlation of −0.85 between wetland area and dust-event frequency. Reuters reported about 1,000 people a day hospitalised in Khuzestan in May 2025 with heart and respiratory illness linked to sand and dust storms. No court case, fine or compensation award concerning the drying has been reported.

  1. 2007Sinopec–Iran Yadavaran contract signed in Tehran (9 December); estimated cost about US$2 billion
  2. 2009CNPC South Azadegan contract signed (late 2009); 65 km Iranian border dike dividing the marsh since 2009 (Reuters)
  3. 2010According to officials, the Supreme National Security Council ordered the drying
  4. 2014NIOC terminates the CNPC South Azadegan contract (29 April)
  5. 2015Former Oil Minister Zanganeh says he opposes drying the wetland for oil (Earth Day, 21 April)
  6. 2019Floods refill the wetland
  7. 2021Kahrom, Ebtekar and Lahijanzadeh statements on the drying (July–August)
  8. 2025Oil Minister Paknejad's statement in Ahvaz (February); fire burns thousands of hectares (early May)
  9. 2026DoE: partly refilled in late winter and spring, then fell again in summer (September)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“We are the ones who dried up the wetland, and we are the ones who hurt the people of Khuzestan”

Mohsen Paknejad, Oil Minister, in Ahvaz (English rendering by Reuters) · February 2025 · translated from Persian · Business Day (Reuters)

“The Ministry of Petroleum has drained parts of the Hur al-Azim wetland to drill test wells”

Ismail Kahrom, ecologist, to Mehr · July 2021 · translated from Persian · Iran International

“In fact, they sacrificed water for oil.”

Ismail Kahrom, ecologist, to Mehr · July 2021 · translated from Persian · Iran International

“a betrayal of future generations”

Bijan Zanganeh, then Oil Minister, on a Karun-fields project that would have dried the wetland · 21 April 2015 · translated from Persian · SNN (Student News Network)

“We would never accept harm to people to produce a few thousand more barrels”

Bijan Zanganeh, Oil Minister, during the floods · April 2019 · translated from Persian · Aftab News

“These marshes once acted as natural barriers, trapping fine sediments and maintaining soil moisture”

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Whether and how far oil development dried the wetland
Government and regulators
Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad (Ahvaz, February 2025)

"We are the ones who dried up the wetland, and we are the ones who hurt the people of Khuzestan" (English rendering by Reuters).

Business Day (Reuters)
Communities and civil society
Ismail Kahrom, ecologist (to Mehr, July 2021)

The Ministry of Petroleum drained parts of the wetland to drill test wells; "they sacrificed water for oil".

Iran International
Government and regulators
Former Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh (2015, 2019)

Opposed drying Hoor al-Azim for oil extraction, calling a Karun-fields project that would have dried it "a betrayal of future generations"; in 2019 said the ministry would never accept harm to people to produce a few thousand more barrels.

SNN (Student News Network)
Government and regulators
Oil Ministry position as summarised by SNN (2022)

Denied wanting the wetland dry; would treat the area like an offshore field and build platforms if it were reflooded.

SNN (Student News Network)
Researchers
Hossein Hashemi (Lund University) and Kaveh Madani (UNU-INWEH) to Reuters, 2025

Hashemi: "These marshes once acted as natural barriers, trapping fine sediments and maintaining soil moisture"; Madani: "Sand and dust storms and wildfires are examples of the complex problems that are going to require complex solutions".

Business Day (Reuters)
Whether the Supreme National Security Council ordered the drying in 2010
Government and regulators
Masoumeh Ebtekar, former head of the Department of Environment (July 2021)

Backed statements that the Supreme National Security Council ordered the drying in 2010 over the DoE's objection.

Iran International
Government and regulators
Ahmad-Reza Lahijanzadeh, Department of Environment deputy (2021)

The decision was tied to Chinese contractors unwilling to use costlier technology; the technology Japanese firms had used at Azadegan and Yadavaran did not require drying.

Iran International
Government and regulators
Ahmad Midari, deputy welfare minister (2021)

Officials at the time thought drying would create jobs.

Iran International
Government and regulators
Oil Ministry (as summarised by SNN, 2022)

Denied wanting the wetland dry.

SNN (Student News Network)
Length of the border dike on the Iranian side
Press and investigations
Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation (May 2025)

A 65 km Iranian dike along the border since 2009 divides the marsh.

Context (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
Communities and civil society
Iraqi ecologist (Nature Iraq, 2018)

A 90 km soil embankment on the Iranian side in 2011 blocked water from that side.

Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • The Ministry would treat the area like an offshore field and build platforms if it were reflooded; it denied wanting the wetland dry
    Oil Ministry position, as summarised by SNN · SNN (Student News Network)
  • Opposed drying Hoor al-Azim for oil extraction
    Bijan Zanganeh, then Oil Minister, Earth Day 2015 · SNN (Student News Network)
  • Constant inflow, delivery of water rights and transboundary cooperation are key to stop the wetland becoming "a dust hotspot and fuel for wildfire"
    Department of Environment (Ahmadreza Lahijanzadeh), September 2026 · Tehran Times

Recorded

  • Wetland area about 124,000 ha in the early 1970s and 60,650 ha in 2025 (Shahid Beheshti University data, via Reuters)
    Business Day (Reuters)
  • Seven parts: five reservoirs in Iran, one zone between the border dikes and one Iraqi part; platforms ringed by embankments and roads in reservoirs 1, 3, 4 and 5
    SNN (Student News Network)
  • Border dike: 65 km along the border since 2009 (Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation); 90 km soil embankment on the Iranian side in 2011 (Nature Iraq, 2018)
    Context (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
  • CNPC South Azadegan: seven of 185 first-phase wells drilled when NIOC terminated the US$2.5 billion contract on 29 April 2014
    Gulf News (AFP)
  • Flood damage to oil facilities in 2019 estimated at about 1,000 billion toman by Oil Minister Zanganeh
    Aftab News
  • About 1,000 people a day hospitalised in Khuzestan in May 2025 with heart and respiratory illness linked to sand and dust storms (Reuters)
    Context (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
  • About 90% of indigenous residents of Hoor al-Azim had left (activist estimate, 2017)
    Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Sinopec Yadavaran contract, initial cost estimate≈ $2bn
Window: 2007
Target 185,000 barrels a day in two phases (Oil Minister Nozari, AFP).
CNPC South Azadegan contract$2.5bn
Window: 2009–2014
Terminated by NIOC on 29 April 2014; seven of 185 first-phase wells drilled.
Currency: USD · Window: Mixed — see each line. Figures cover different periods and are not compared as a ratio. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • iran-ministry-of-petroleum (February 2025): Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad: "We are the ones who dried up the wetland, and we are the ones who hurt the people of Khuzestan." · Business Day (Reuters)
  • iran-ministry-of-petroleum (2022): Denied wanting the wetland dry; would treat the area like an offshore field and build platforms if it were reflooded. · SNN (Student News Network)
  • nioc (29 April 2014): Terminated the CNPC South Azadegan contract for "non-compliance" (managing director Rokneddin Javadi). · Gulf News (AFP)
  • iran-doe (September 2026): Constant inflow, delivery of water rights and transboundary cooperation are key to stop the wetland becoming "a dust hotspot and fuel for wildfire". · Tehran Times

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Wetland area
124,000 → 60,650 ha
Early 1970s to 2025 (Shahid Beheshti University data, via Reuters)
Border dike
65 km
Iranian dike along the border since 2009 (Reuters); 90 km reported by Nature Iraq for 2011
Dust-event correlation
−0.85
Wetland area against dust-event frequency, 2010–2022 (Scientific Reports, 2025)
Wetland-specific restoration budget
None on record
No compensation scheme or oil-company payment on record either

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseDisplacement reported

Nature

  • Disputed Whether and how far oil development dried the wetland
  • Disputed Whether the Supreme National Security Council ordered the drying in 2010
  • Disputed Length of the border dike on the Iranian side

Court

Record

  • None on record None on record: a court case, fine or compensation award concerning the drying of Hoor al-Azim.
  • None on record None on record: a wetland-specific restoration budget, compensation scheme or payment by an oil company.
  • None on record None on record: a published document of the 2010 Supreme National Security Council decision; the claim rests on officials' statements.
  • Disputed Figures differ: the border dike is 65 km long since 2009 (Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation) and a 90 km embankment in 2011 (Nature Iraq).
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: which body counted the roughly 1,000 daily hospitalisations in Khuzestan in May 2025.
  • Disputed Disputed: the oil sector's share of the loss (see disputes).

Did the harm stop?

The wetland dried and caught fire in 2024–2025; the Department of Environment said in September 2026 that it had partly refilled in late winter and spring and then fallen again in summer.

Who paid?

The wetland, and the people of Khuzestan exposed to dust. No wetland-specific restoration budget, compensation scheme or oil-company payment is on record.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

Press and investigations

  4. How dried-out wetlands on the Iran-Iraq border threaten the region
    Context (Thomson Reuters Foundation) · 2025-05-21

Communities and civil society

  2. The Border Wetlands of Iran-Iraq (Toon Bijnens, Save the Tigris)
    Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative · 2017-07-02

Researchers

  1. Wetland shrinking and dust pollution in Khuzestan Iran
    Yousefi-Kebriya et al., Scientific Reports (NASA MODIS abstract) · 2025

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
Wetland
Land that is saturated or covered with water for long periods, such as marshes, swamps and peat bogs.
Similar cases
Water use · Oil, gas and coal operations · Caspian Sea (Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan) · 2020–2025
Caspian seal mass deaths, 2020–2025
Same type: Water use, Oil, gas and coal operationsSame countryHarm to nature disputed