A new oil slick detected near Iran's Kharg Island in the Gulf in the wake of the Iran war could impact conservation areas, Greenpeace said on Monday after satellite images showed it had broken up.
Greenpeace spokeswoman Nina Noelle told dpa that the oil was likely to break up further in the sea and not reach the coastline in large quantities, but she added that this was a provisional estimate.
Weather and current conditions could cause it to drift southwards towards sensitive marine habitats and conservation areas, she said.
The cause of the slick remained unknown. Kharg Island is home to Iran's main oil export infrastructure.
"One cannot rule out the possibility of leakage due to ruptures in pipelines or intentional or accidental spillage from tankers," Kaveh Madani, head of the UN Institute for Water, Environment and Health, said.
"War conditions make maintenance, monitoring, control, and mitigation efforts more difficult than usual, although incidents like this have also occurred during peacetime," Madani added.
Iran's Mehr news agency reported that the Environment Ministry had denied possible damage to pipelines. The ministry attributed the slick to ballast water released from a damaged tank vessel.
