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Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian told the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Turkey, on Wednesday that his country wants compensation for the environmental damage caused by U.S. and Israeli military strikes, arguing that the damage belongs in the global fight against climate change.
"We expect the global community to establish a genuine and meaningful link between climate commitments in times of peace and responsibility in times of war, to document and assess the environmental damages caused by military aggressions and to develop compensation mechanisms," Pezeshkian said.
His remarks came during back-to-back speeches by heads of state on the third day of the two-week conference, which Turkey is hosting in Antalya from November 9 to 20.
International climate agreements currently include billions of dollars in finance from wealthy countries to help developing countries adapt to climate change and pay for its impacts, but there is no provision covering the environmental impacts of military strikes.
Pezeshkian put figures on the damage, citing unnamed assessments. According to Shafaq News and TRT World, he said strikes on fuel facilities had released about 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide: roughly 500,000 tonnes from attacks on facilities in Asaluyeh, in southern Iran, on March 18, and about one million tonnes from strikes on fuel storage tanks near Tehran on March 7. Those are Iranian figures and were not independently verified in the reports reviewed. He also reported damage to protected natural areas and environmental ranger stations, Iran's Mehr news agency reported.
The United States and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran in late February. The conflict, which spread to Lebanon and the Gulf, has involved repeated strikes on energy infrastructure in Iran and across the wider region, as well as strikes on shipping. Iran has repeatedly attacked oil tankers navigating the Strait of Hormuz. Those attacks have caused environmental damage, including substantial oil leaks.
Before the summit, Middle East Eye reported that Pezeshkian had described COP31 as a good opportunity to raise what he called the damage done by the United States and Israel to the environment in Iran and the region. Washington and Israel have not been quoted in the reports reviewed responding to the compensation call.
The Iran war may also have led to a reduction in overall global emissions. A report from a consortium of international scientists on Tuesday said global fossil fuel emissions are on track to fall slightly this year, in part due to high prices for fuel and expanded use of renewable energy in the wake of the conflict.