Oil slick off Iran's Kharg Island could become environmental disaster, professor warns

Описание: Satellite images released last week appeared to show a large oil slick spreading west of Iran's Kharg Island, the country's main oil export hub in the Persian Gulf, covering dozens of square kilometers of sea. However, Iran's Oil Terminals Company has denied reports of an oil leak, according to state media. The cause of the possible spill and the point of origin remain unknown. Kharg Island is crucial for Iran's oil exports, hosting the country's largest oil terminal along with pipelines and storage tanks.
In an interview on Al Jazeera, Professor Chuk Okereke of the University of Bristol said any environmental incident at Kharg Island would "immediately cascade to an environmental and ecological and even geopolitical disaster." He noted that even a relatively limited spill highlights how fragile energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf has become amid escalating military tensions.
Okereke warned that the Persian Gulf is an "ecologically sensitive and semi-closed body of water," meaning oil pollution can persist much longer than in open oceans. Marine biodiversity, fisheries, coral ecosystems, mangroves, and coastal livelihoods are all at risk. He added that the spill's impact depends on its extent and wind speed, which could move it south toward Gulf neighboring states.
A worse environmental disaster would affect Gulf communities, particularly desalination plants and regional food security. Okereke stressed that "military tension can quickly become an environmental tension, and environmental tension does not respect any borders." He called for "quick verification, possibly by an international organization," to determine the extent of the spill and initiate a clean-up operation. He concluded that environmental consequences of geopolitical conflicts are often underestimated and that there is an urgent need to de-escalate tensions in the region.

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