Journal of Research and Development in Comparative Law

Journal of Research and Development in Comparative Law

A Comparative Study of the Mutual Rights and Duties of Iran and Its Neighbors in Protecting Shared Rivers: An Analysis of International Agreements and Treaties

Document Type : scientific research paper

Authors
Arsalan Dorji 1
Vali Rostami 2
Mohamad Mahdi Ghamamy 3
1 PhD student, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad Branch, Najafabad, Iran
2 Professor of Public Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
3 Assistant Professor of Public Law, Imam Sadegh University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/law.2024.2041189.1464
Abstract
Providing the community with the water it needs is one of the major concerns of every country. In recent years, the extraction of various types of water has increased excessively by farmers and industrialists, to the point where this issue has become an international problem. Although every country has the right to use and exploit its groundwater resources, governments, as subjects of international law, are obligated to observe the principle of fair and reasonable exploitation of these resources. Iran, having the greatest number of neighbors, faces the most complex border issues and is also one of the few countries whose shared waters with its neighbors have not been seriously studied. Over the past decades, territorial disputes on the western and eastern borders of Iran have had a profound impact on the political life of the country. This article addresses the question of what rights and duties Iran and its neighbors have regarding the protection of transboundary waters, particularly shared rivers. Using a comparative method, it compares comprehensive international obligations and binding bilateral and multilateral agreements and concludes that the Iranian government has acted weakly in exploiting the country's share of transboundary water resources through international commitments. With this in mind, the best way to resolve water disputes is through cross-border interaction and cooperation with neighbors.
Keywords
Transboundary Waters
International Obligations
States
Shared Rivers
Iran

Subjects

  1. Allahverdizadeh R, Hafeznia M R. Comparative study of Iran’s maritime realms in Persian Gulf and Oman Sea with the convention of the International Law of the Sea. GeoRes 2016; 30 (4) :30-53 (in Persian).
  1. Amiri, Mojahed, Amiri, Rooh-ol-Amin, & Rasek, Seyyed Mohammad Mahdi. (2021). The Right to Water in the Light of the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights. Quarterly Journal of International Studies, 19(3), 209-226. (in Persian).
  2. Araghchi, Seyed Abbas (2017). Transboundary Water Diplomacy and the International System, Tehran: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Publications. (in Persian).
  3. Barberis, Julio (1991) The Development of International Law of Transboundary Groundwater, Natural Resources Journal, Vol.31, Issue 1.
  4. Carretson, A.H .Hayton(1976). R.D.Olmstead, C.Y. eds. The Law of int'l Drainage Basins, (N.Y. University School of law).
  5. Darabpour, M. and Mousavi Abdol Abadi, S. M. M. (2024). A Comparative Study of the Possibility of Selecting Serving Judges as Arbitrators in International Commercial Disputes. Journal of Research and Development in Comparative Law, 7(22), 16-56. doi: 10.22034/law.2024.2020878.1287. (in Persian).
  6. Davoud Mohammad, Sangar and Azad Abdul Qadir Saleh Vald Beigi (2021). The principle of cooperation in the field of exploitation of international waterways with emphasis on the international waterways of Iran and Iraq, Quarterly Journal of Public Law Studies, Volume 51, Number 4, 1459-1486. (in Persian).
  7. Dehshiri, Mohammad Reza and Hekmat-ara Hamed (2018). Iran's Water Diplomacy Towards Neighbors, No. 24, Quarterly Journal of Strategic and Macro Policies, pp. 596-617. (in Persian).
  8. Eckstein, Gabriel (2006) A Hydrogeological Perspective of the Status of Groundwater Resources Under the UN Watercourse Convention, Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, Vol. 30, Issue 3.
  9. Fazaeli, Mustafa and Mehdi Kaykhosravi (2021). Comparative study of territorial waters and their governing effects in the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea and the Convention on the Law of the Sea, Comparative Law Studies, Volume 12, No. 1, 290-311.(in Persian).
  10. Firuzpour, Kausar (2021). Achievements of international law in realizing the right to health of disabled children. Legal Research, 20(46), 325-346. (in Persian).
  11. Forman, Lisa, (2007), “A Transformative Power. The Role of the Human Right to Medicines In Accessing AIDS Medicines - International Human Rights Law , TRIPS and The South African Experience”, University of Toronto, Canada.
  12. Hafeznia, Mohammad Reza (2002). Fundamentals of Iran's Political Geography, Tehran: Samat Publications(in Persian).
  13. Hafez Nia, Mohammad Reza, Pirouz Mojtahedzadeh and Jafar Alizadeh (2006). Hiramand Hydropolitics and its Impact on Iran-Afghanistan Political Relations, Journal of Humanities, Volume 10, Issue 2, pp. 83-107. (in Persian).
  14. Jafari Valdani, Asghar (2009). Use of water resources of Iran-Iraq border rivers and international law, Journal of Law and Politics, Volume 11, No. 26, 63-92. (in Persian).
  15. Kanter, Arlene (2015). The Development of Disability Rights under International Law: From charity to Human Rights, First Published, London, Routledge.
  16. Mateus, Simon (2021). “Investigating the extraterritorial application of the international covenant on civil and Politicial Rights as Well as the International Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, De jure Law Journal. Vol.54, No.1, pp70-90.
  17. Mehrpour, Hossein (1998). The International System of Human Rights, First Edition, Tehran: Information Publications, 56-62. (in Persian).
  18. Mojtahedzadeh, Pirouz (2017). Border Policies and International Borders, Second Edition, Tehran: Samat Publications.(in Persian).
  19. Mohammad Alipour, Farideh (2017). Non-Navigational Rights of International Waterways, Tehran: Mizan Publications (in Persian).
  20. Mohammadi, Aqeel and Hiwa Haji Molla (2022). The commitment of states to the extraterritorial implementation of the human right to access to safe and hygienic water, Legal Studies, Volume 15, Issue 1, 387-420. (in Persian).
  21. Moqtaddar, Houshang (2018). Public International Law, Tehran: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Political and International Studies Office Publications(in Persian).
  22. Moradi, Mohammad Mehdi and Mahmoud Jalali (2019). The role of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in the dispute settlement system of the 1982 United Nations Convention, Energy Law Studies, Volume 5, No. 1, 155-174. (in Persian).
  23. Mumtaz, Jamshid and Amirhossein Ranjbarian (2019). International Humanitarian Law. Internal Armed Conflicts, 5th edition, Tehran: Mezan Publishing House(in Persian).
  24. Namazi, Gholamhossein (1999). Water Crisis in the Middle East, Tehran: Middle East Strategic Studies Center(in Persian).
  25. Papli Yazdi, Mohammad Hossein and Fatemeh Vosoughi (2011). A Look at Iran's Water Diplomacy Hydrogeopolitics, Tehran: Papli Publications. (in Persian).
  26. Parvin, Khairollah (2014). The Right to Development, Tehran: Samat Publications(in Persian).
  27. Piltan, Farzad and Mirabrahim Sedigh Bathaei Asl (2016). Principles and Mechanisms of Environmental Cooperation between Iran and its Neighbors in the Watershed of Shared Rivers, Quarterly Journal of Socio-Cultural Strategy, Year 5 (21), 91-122. (in Persian).
  28. Ranjbarzadeh, J. , Jalalian, A. , Khodadadi Dashtaki, K. and Kaveh Fard, A. R. (2024). Analysis of diplomatic situations an practical reactions of Iran regarding the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, based on national and international law. Journal of Research and Development in Comparative Law, 6(21), 101-138. doi: 10.22034/law.2023.2014035.1264. (in Persian).
  29. Safarinia Mehrzad (2015). The Right to Safe Drinking Water in International Human Rights, Tehran: Majd Publications(in Persian).
  30. Sadeghi, Didakht (2013). International Responsibility for Protection and Sovereignty of States, Quarterly Journal of International Relations Studies, Volume 6, Issue 22, pp. 133-156. (in Persian).
  31. Sattari, Mohammad Taqi (2017). Studying the regional impacts of water resources development projects in Turkey: A case study of the Gap and Ilisu Dam projects, Public Policy Studies Network (Policy Paper), Presidential Strategic Studies Center, Serial Number: 1100376, Shapa Number: 5385-2423. (in perdian).
  32. Smith Herbert A. (2017).The Economic use of the International River, London, king Pub.
  33. Tabatabaei, Seyed Ahmad and Saeed Nouri Neshat (2009). Commitments of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the field of cultural rights of disabled people, Private Law Studies, No. 15, 105-131. (in Persian).
  34. Traversi, Christine (2011). “The Inadequacies Of The 1997 Convention On International Water Courses and 2008 Draft Articles on The Law of Transboundary Aquifers”. Houston journal of international law, vol.33:2.
  35. United Nations, Islamic Republic of Iran (2010). The Right to Water, Statement No. 35. (in Persian).
  36. Weiss, Edith Brown (2013). “The evolution of international water law”. collected courses of the Hague Academy of international Law. Vol 331