Plans for canal between Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea revived

Canal route between Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf

Iran considers canal linking Persian Gulf to Caspian Sea: Iran’s state-run Khatam al-Anbia company is looking into the possibility of reviving plans to  connect the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea by a water canal, according to  Alaeddin Boroujerdi  of the Iranian parliament’s  National Security and Foreign Policy Committee. The idea of the canal
was first tabled over a century ago and resurfaced again in 2012 ago, partly as a means of diverting 500m³  from the Caspian Sea to Iran’s drought-stricken hinterlands. The canal would also facilitate trade between the Middle East and Central Asia.
It is estimated that the canal would cost around $7bn and would fraught with technical difficulties due to the difference in altitude between the Caspian Sea and and Alborz mountain  that lies directly to the south. Desalinating the waters from the Caspian to make it suitable for use in agriculture is also an obstacle, as is the sheer scale of the project;the distance between the two stretches of water is around 1,200km.