All tagged Isa Kalantari

Iran Risks Losing 70% of Farmlands: Environment Chief

◢ Iran faces losing 70 percent of its farmlands if urgent action is not taken to overcome a litany of climate woes, the country's environment chief Isa Kalantari told AFP. The Islamic Republic is grappling not only with air, water and soil pollution, as well as drought and desertification, but also with the effect of years of crippling US and international sanctions.

Iran Environment Head Seeks Answers on Detained Activists

◢ Iran's vice-president in charge of environmental affairs has called for an explanation on the fate of more than a dozen activists arrested this year, state news agency IRNA reported Sunday. “We are not asking for their release or for their execution, we just want their fate to be clarified. This is part of their citizenship rights," Isa Kalantari, who heads Iran's environment department, told IRNA. 

Iran Government Says No Evidence Against Detained Environmentalists

◢ Iran's environment chief said Tuesday that a government committee had concluded there was no evidence against wildlife activists rounded up on spying charges in recent months. Isa Kalantari, head of the government's department of environment, told state news agency IRNA that the conclusion had been reached by a special four-man committee.

Iran Lawmakers Slam Crackdown on Environmentalists

◢ An Iranian lawmaker on Tuesday criticized a recent crackdown on environmental activists and officials, saying it risked "bad consequences for the country." Parliament's environmental and transparency committees held a closed-door session in which they discussed the arrest on espionage charges of several NGO workers earlier this year.