According to various reports, the Iranian regime plans the construction of a giant petrochemical complex in northern Iran. The plan was confirmed during a recent visit to Miankaleh in Mazandaran province by the Interior Minister last month. Apparently, the destructive environmental project has also received official approval from the Ministry of Industry.

Interestingly enough, both the head of Petrochemical, Shahmirzai, and the head of the regime’s environmental protection agency, Ali Selajegheh, falsely stated that they were unaware of such a project.

Environmental activists report that the chemical plant’s construction has been accelerated during the Nowruz holiday, which has caused widespread concern and protests among villagers in the area and environmental experts.

According to scientific experiences, environmental assessment plays a significant role in the location and where the construction of a petrochemical complex is built. In places like Mazandaran, with ecologically sensitive agricultural conditions, launching such projects at the level of a chemical industrial plant can create a massive implication for the environment. It makes it too dangerous due to the lack of a system for collecting and treating oil wastewater and unique industrial by-products. The planned project at Miankaleh is fundamentally inconsistent with minimal environmental and sustainable development requirements.

Those who build such dangerous, polluting facilities are prosecuted by standards of countries where the real environmental regulations are enforced.

Over the past few decades in Iran, the prominent players in the construction of oil and chemical plants are companies directly or indirectly connected to IRGC and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic regime. Now, such programs have been approved without any obstacles by the government and the Ministry of Industry since Raisi, the regime’s new president, took office.

Facing public fury for the profitable project benefiting the IRGC in Miankaleh, Salajegheh tried to dodge questions and blamed members of Majlis, the regime’s parliament, for destroying the environment in the north, a few arias in Iran that remained green despite systematic deforestation conducted by IRGC network.

The Green Party of Iran calls on all environmentalists and its members and supporters in the region to stop the construction of the petrochemical plant, which will fundamentally change the use of rangelands that are the primary source of income for the livelihood and survival of farmers and residents in the region.