Wenxin views the world, and the world gathers Wenxin. Hello everyone, welcome to Wenxin's channel
[Today's Headlines International Observation]: Why can't Iran take out the treasure trove of the Caspian Sea "treasury" on the export road?
As you can imagine, if you come across a big treasure, but the door is sealed tightly, and you can't get the treasure out, will you be in a hurry?
Similarly, the Caspian Sea, a "treasury" surrounded by Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran, faces a similar dilemma. The oil and gas resources here are abundant, but the question is - how to transport these treasures out?
In order to solve this dilemma, the Iranian government has long proposed a plan to open the canal. They hope to open a channel to the world for oil and gas resources by digging canals that will connect the Caspian Sea with the Black Sea or the Persian Gulf. This seemingly simple plan faced many difficulties and challenges.
1. The "Golden Mountains and Silver Mountains" of the Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea, an inland lake larger than Japan, is not only a treasure trove of natural beauty, but also a treasure trove of energy.
The reserves of oil exceed 133 billion tons, and the reserves of natural gas have reached a staggering 60 trillion cubic meters. Alas! These precious resources are locked in a safe, and it is not easy to retrieve them.
2. The mystery of the Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is an inland lake located on the border between Europe and Asia, with a total area of 370,000 square kilometers. Its eastern, northern and western shores belong to the Republic of Turkmenistan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan, respectively, while the southern shore is entirely located in Iran. This multinational situation has made the ownership of the Caspian Sea disputed.
From a historical point of view, the Caspian Sea originally belonged to the common property of Iran and the USSR (now Russia).
As early as 1921, the two countries decided on the ownership of the Caspian Sea, with the Soviet Union owning 88.4% of the Caspian Sea and Iran owning the remaining 11.6%.
But with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the political landscape on the Caspian coast changed dramatically. Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, which have been separated since the collapse of the Soviet Union, have also shown great interest in this lake, which is rich in oil and gas resources, and have proposed to redefine the legal status of the Caspian Sea in order to jointly develop its oil and gas resources.
2. The birth of the dream of the canal
Let's put the ownership aside. In the face of such an attractive "treasure trove", Iran naturally has someone who has come up with a solution - digging a canal! If there is a canal that connects the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea or the Persian Gulf, then these oil and gas resources can easily go to sea and go to the world.
In this way, the countries bordering the Caspian Sea will not only solve the problem of energy exports, but also usher in a new era of economic take-off.
IV. The "Roadblock" of the Caucasus Mountains
But this is where there is a gap between the ideal and the reality, and this gap is not a little bit, it is a whole mountain! That is the Caucasus Mountains.
Caucasus
Straddling the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, this majestic mountain range makes the canal dream out of reach.
If you want to dig the canal, you have to climb over this mountain first. But the problem is that the difficulty of digging the mountain is not ordinary, and the amount of earth and rock is 20 times higher than that in the plains, which is simply astronomical!
5. The mystery of the cost of the canal
On the other side, the cost of the canal is also a headache. Some big people in China have proposed that we can walk from our own homes without going to the Caucasus Mountains! A canal from the interior of Iran was dug from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf, with a total length of more than 700 kilometers. But even so, according to the cost criteria of large canals, the average investment per kilometer must reach at least 40 million US dollars, so the whole project is definitely a sky-high price! (More than 700 kilometers will require 28 billion US dollars!) ）
It is no wonder that the Iranian government is hesitant to face such a project, after all, this is not a small amount!
VI. The Iranian Government's "Entanglement"
There are those who oppose it, there are those who are in favor, and some people think that such an investment is worth it. After all, the oil and gas resources of the Caspian Sea are an inexhaustible "golden mountain", and as long as they can be exported smoothly, the future benefits will be immeasurable.
Such a project can also lead to economic development and job growth in the surrounding area, which is a good thing for the whole region. But then again, there are significant risks and challenges associated with such an investment. For the Iranian government, such a proposal is also a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they do need such projects to boost economic development and energy exports; On the other hand, they are also worried that such a project will bring huge financial pressure and economic risks. After all, there is no shortage of examples in history where a country's economy collapsed because of a large project.
So can the dream of a canal in the Caspian Sea be realized? I'm afraid this is still unknown. Such a project requires not only huge financial investment and technical support, but also cooperation and consensus among countries. We all look forward to the opening of this "golden mountain" as soon as possible, so that the oil and gas resources of the Caspian Sea can benefit the entire region and the world.
epilogue
Iran's canal dream is full of challenges and difficulties, but it is also full of hope and opportunities. Perhaps one day in the future, when we bring it up again, we will see a whole new sight – a wide canal that runs between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, connecting every corner of the world.
Okay, friends, let's talk so much about today's topic, if you have anything to say, please comment in the comment area, thank you for watching and liking and supporting. I'm Wenxin, we'll see you next time.