Iran

Supreme Audit Court (SAC) of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hosted Meeting on Gaza War Impacts: Auditing and Assessment of Environment and Food Security.  

The meeting on “Gaza War Impacts: Auditing and Assessment of Environment and Food Security” was held at the Institute for Political and International Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted by the Supreme Audit Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Environmental Faction of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (the Iranian Parliament) on 6 March 2024.

This meeting was attended by Dr. Dastgheib, the President of SAC and ECOSAI; Dr. Somayeh Rafiei, the Chairperson of the Parliament's Environmental Faction; Dr. Bikdeli, Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary, and Iranian Expatriates Affairs; Representatives of the Palestine Support Committee of the Parliament, the Secretary General of the International Conference to Support the Palestinian Intifada as well as Ambassadors of several countries together with the UN authorities.

Dr. Seyed Ahmadreza Dastgheib stated that in October 2021, the Human Rights Council recognized the right to a healthy, clean and sustainable environment as a human right. Since 2007, INTOSAI has repeatedly recommended conducting timely audits by SAIs on how to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, including fighting poverty, providing safe and sanitary water, education and health for all, and the environment.

Dr. Dastgheib emphasized that the impact of war on water, soil and environmental resources, especially in the Middle East, is significant and cannot be overlooked, and that amid wars, for various reasons, such as successive explosions, the infiltration of chemical substances from explosions into rivers, and the seas and the discharge of hazardous wastes, drastic changes are made in the vital and limited water resources of the region.