Iran Begins Pumping Caspian Water To Desert

April 16, 2012

Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has launched the first phase of a project aimed at pumping water from the Caspian Sea to a desert city in Iran's central region.

According to Iranian state media, the initial phase of the project will cost about $1 billion and will include building a desalination plant and pipes during the next two years to supply water to the city of Semnan.

The first desalination plant to be built would reportedly have a capacity of 200 million cubic meters per year.

The ambitious project is being handled by the Khatam al-Anbiya group, the industrial arm of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, which have interests in the country's key economic sectors.

Based on reporting by AFP, IRNA, and RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/iran_pumps_caspian_water_to_desert_city/24549731.html

Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.