TEHRAN – Iran and Russia in a meeting on Monday discussed ways to expand cooperation in all fields of crisis management and natural hazards within the framework of signing a memorandum of understanding.

Mohammad-Hassan Nami, the head of the National Disaster Management Organization, conferred with Alexi Dedov, the ambassador of Russia to Iran, and Yuri Alexeeve, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, on ways to expand cooperation for boosting resilience to natural disasters, ILNA reported.

Dedov, talking about Russia’s previous cooperation with Iran to provide better relief responses in emergencies, announced Russia’s readiness to strengthen cooperation in various fields, and exchange knowledge and experiences about preparedness for crisis management.

Nami, for his part, referring to the fact that Asia is one of the most disaster-prone regions of the world, called for strengthening relations with neighboring countries, especially Russia, for crisis management in critical situations.

"Nowadays, exchanging knowledge in dealing with natural hazards and avoiding them can reduce human and financial loss due to disasters,” ILNA quoted Nami as saying.

Iran is ready to cooperate with the Russian Federation in conducting joint production and exchanging knowledge on disaster management, such as earthquake early warning systems, meteorological equipment, and cloud fertility; expanding green spaces and planting trees; and developing agriculture, Nami added.

He went on to propose holding joint crisis management drills with Russia and called for the establishment of a new organization or union with the membership of Iran, Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus for better relief services in emergencies.

Iran’s potential in dealing with natural disasters

In 2022, Stefan Priesner, the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Iran, said, “Iran has the potential to deal with natural disasters broadly and the United Nations is willing to document these valuable experiences.”

In case of natural disasters, the United Nations is ready to provide services by forming a permanent working group with representatives of the UN, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Disaster Management Organization, IRNA quoted Priesner as saying.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Nami, suggesting that the two sides should hold meetings every three months for further coordination.

For his part, Nami said all nations have a sense of philanthropy and kindness, but they will face sanctions if they want to provide help. So, this issue should be resolved.

In June, Priesner said the United Nations will use all its power and capacity to assist Iran in dealing with natural hazards by increasing operational performance and improving safety in specialized areas.

“Expressing the desirable capacities of Iran in dealing with natural hazards, he said that we will do everything to assist Iran. In this regard, we can increase operational performance and improve safety in the sector to enhance cooperation.”

The Iranian plateau, with its location between two vast expanses of water as well as the intersection of the Eurasian plateau and Saudi Arabia, has always been exposed to numerous natural hazards and disasters.

According to UN surveys this year, the main natural disasters listed for Iran are drought, floods, and earthquakes. Subsidence is also a phenomenon that has emerged as one of the consequences of drought along with the aforementioned three challenges.

Earthquake, as one of the main natural challenges, occasionally becomes an uninvited guest of Iranian homes. On the other hand, the existence of important rivers and water reservoirs in the country has also increased flood risk.

Land subsidence, a gradual settling or sudden sinking of the Earth's surface due to subsurface movement of earth materials is mainly caused by aquifer-system compaction, drainage, and decomposition of organic soils, underground mining, oil and gas extraction, hydro compaction, natural compaction, sinkholes, and thawing permafrost. Iran is greatly affected by the phenomena, as 29 provinces of the country are affected.

MT/MG