Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has launched the first phase of a project aimed at pumping water from the Caspian Sea to a desert city in Iran's central region.
According to Iranian state media, the initial phase of the project will cost about $1 billion and will include building a desalination plant and pipes during the next two years to supply water to the city of Semnan.
The first desalination plant to be built would reportedly have a capacity of 200 million cubic meters per year.
The ambitious project is being handled by the Khatam al-Anbiya group, the industrial arm of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, which have interests in the country's key economic sectors.
According to Iranian state media, the initial phase of the project will cost about $1 billion and will include building a desalination plant and pipes during the next two years to supply water to the city of Semnan.
The first desalination plant to be built would reportedly have a capacity of 200 million cubic meters per year.
The ambitious project is being handled by the Khatam al-Anbiya group, the industrial arm of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, which have interests in the country's key economic sectors.