Iran should allow more water into Iraq: Iraqi VP

BASRA, Iraq, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi said on Saturday in southern Iraq's Basra province that Iran should allow more water into Iraqi territories.

"Iran says it loves the Iraqi people and supports the political process in Iraq, now it needs to prove this by allowing more water to enter Iraq through the two rivers of Karun and Karkheh," al-Hashemi said at a press conference held in Basra, the oil-rich capital city of Basra province 550 km south of Baghdad..

Al-Hashemi, who arrived in Basra earlier in the day, said the water of those two rivers would help Iraq, especially Basra, to avoid a water crisis,

Iraq has faced severe water shortages in the recent two years.

Amir Salman, Basra agriculture director, said that he is about to announce a water crisis in Basra, as the water salinity has reached unprecedented level that would disable the city of any plan to produce agricultural products.