Construction of Artificial Islands in the Persian Gulf and Environmental International Law

On the basis of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention (LOS convention), the construction of artificial islands is not illegal and these islands are considered as research and investigation areas. Moreover, the LOS convention stipulates that artificial islands do not have sea borders and the constructor countries cannot create sea areas for them. Until now, due to the confirmation of the LOS convention, there has not been any objection to the construction of artificial islands. However, nowadays the complexity of international security, particularly the extension of security concept to new domains such as environmental security, has caused some anxieties about negative impacts due to the construction of these islands. According to many reports and inrestigations, the Persian Gulf is one of the most polluted seas in the world and oil pollution in the Persian Gulf is twice as much as environmental standards. Therefore, the study of probable environmental consequences of constructing artificial islands is very important, especially that some countries intend to construct these islands for various purposes. In this article, the relation between the LOS convention, construction of artificial islands and the environmental impact of these islands is studied. In conclusion, the author recognizes that LOS and international law cannot respond to new cases created due to the construction of artificial islands, so countries need to compile new regulations. At the end of the article, there are some proposals for improving the situation.