Iraqi Minister of Transport Kazem Finjan al-Hamami revealed July 25 that Iran has agreed to participate with Iraq in the construction of a dam on the Shatt al-Arab River — formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers — to confront the ongoing water crisis. Both countries hope to achieve bilateral benefits from the project to be established in Abu Flous Port in Abu al-Khaseeb district.

The agreement comes at the heels of the popular protests organized in Basra on July 8 about the lack of drinking water and services. On July 5, Basra’s tribes asked the Iranian government to stop the flow of water into Iraqi territory, which increases the salinity in the Shatt al-Arab River.

Interest in the water salinity crisis seems to have grown following the protests. On July 11, the Iranian Khuzestan governor reacted to the water problem by supporting the establishment of a dam on the Shatt al-Arab to solve the water shortage crisis in Basra and in Abadan and Khorramshahr in Khuzestan.

This long-standing problem, raised by popular protests in southern cities, was addressed by the Iraqi government in 2016 when it was forced to build an 80-kilometer (50-mile) dirt cover at the port of the Shalamjah border with Iran to prevent the highly salty Iranian water from reaching the Shatt al-Arab.