Iran's parliament bans sale of country's soil abroad

By  Trend

Iranian parliament has banned the sale of Iran's soil abroad and criminal penalties are foreseen for such actions, as was confirmed by the members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Iranian Parliament), Trend reports via ILNA.

The Iranian Parliament evaluated the report on the land preservation project of the Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Committee. Article 21 of the project was passed by a vote result of 171 for, 12 against, and 6 abstained.

Article 21 states that it is illegal to smuggle and sell Iranian soil outside of the country’s borders. Those who violate the law will be punished.

It was stated not long ago (15 December 2019) by Ali Moridi, chief of water and soil department at Iran's Environmental Protection Organization, that Iranian soil is being smuggled to Persian Gulf countries, especially the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, and is used in the construction of man-made islands in UAE and coastline expansion in Qatar.

Moridi has stated that soil smuggling began in 2001 and continues to this day. In recent years, due to a decrease in demand and enhanced measures taken by the authorities, land smuggling is being kept under check to a certain extent.