The use of the Diyala river between Iran and Iraqi : an international law approach

Abstract EN

Over the years, Iran started to construct a number of projects on the international rivers shared with Iraq, including Diyala River, a tributary of the Tigris River without any considerations to the rights and interests of Iraq as a downstream country.

Iran has used the waters of Diyala River by constructing many projects which in turn has greatly affected the amount of water entering into Iraq.

Also, the quality of water entering Iraq has deteriorated due to the construction of these projects.

As a result of water shortage caused by the construction of these projects, the agricultural and industrial sectors have suffered the most in Diyala Province.

This paper aims to examine the utilization of water resource, especially Diyala River between Iran and Iraq from an international law perspective.

The methodology adopted in this paper is a legal library based research focusing mainly on primary and secondary legal sources.

The paper concludes that Iran has violated the principles of international law, such as the equitable and reasonable utilization and participation, international cooperation, etc.

Finally, the paper recommends that Iraq has to work on a pennanent basis with Iran in order to organize the management of Diyala River, which is the tributary of the Tigris River in line with the principles of international law such as the Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses 1997.