Iran faces unprecedented drought as water crisis hits Tehran

Iran – particularly its capital, Tehran – is facing an unprecedented drought this fall, with record rainfall and near-empty reservoirs. Authorities are pleading with citizens to conserve water as the crisis deepens.

President Masoud Pezeshkian has warned that if sufficient rainfall does not fall soon, Tehran’s water supply could be rationed. But he added that even rationing might not be enough to prevent a catastrophe.

“If rationing doesn’t work,” Pezeshkian said, “we may have to evacuate Tehran.”

His comments sparked criticism in Iranian newspapers and on social media. Former Tehran Mayor Gholamhossein Karbaschi called the idea a “joke” and said “evacuating Tehran makes no sense.”

Iranian weather officials say no rain is expected over the next 10 days.

Meanwhile, the water crisis is already affecting daily life in the capital.

“I plan to buy water tankers for toilets and other necessities,” a woman in Tehran told the Persian BBC.

This summer, Iranian rapper Vafa Ahmadpoor ​​posted a video on social media showing a kitchen faucet without running water.

“It’s been four or five hours,” he said. “I bought bottled water just so I could go to the bathroom.”

The manager of the Latian Dam, one of Tehran’s main water sources, says it now has less than 10% of its capacity. The nearby Karaj Dam – which supplies water to Tehran and Alborz provinces – is in an equally disastrous state.

“I have never seen this dam so empty since I was born,” an elderly resident told Iranian state television.

According to Mohammad-Ali Moallem, director of the Karaj Dam, rainfall has dropped dramatically.

“We had a 92 percent decrease in precipitation compared to last year,” he said. “We only have eight percent water in our tank – and most of it is unusable and considered dead water.”

The government is now pinning its hopes on late autumn rains, but the forecast is bleak. Iranian Energy Minister Abbas Ali Abadi warned that the situation could soon force authorities to cut off water supplies.

“Some nights we can reduce the water flow to zero,” he said.

Authorities also announced plans to penalize households and businesses that consume excessive amounts of water.

Iran’s Energy Minister Ali Abadi said Tehran’s water crisis was not just due to lack of rainfall. He blamed water leaks caused by the capital’s century-old water infrastructure and even highlighted the recent 12-day war with Israel.

During this conflict, Israel targeted the Tajrish neighborhood, north of Tehran, on June 15. Videos later showed heavy flooding in the area.

The day after the strike, the Israel Defense Forces said it had targeted Iranian military “command centers.”

But the crisis extends well beyond the capital.

The head of Iran’s National Center for Climate and Drought Crisis Management, Ahmad Vazifeh, warned that besides Tehran, dams in many other provinces – including West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan and Markazi – are also in a “worrying state”, with water levels hovering in the single digits.

In Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city, authorities are also sounding the alarm.

The governor of Iran’s northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi said water reserves in Mashhad dams had fallen to “less than eight percent”, warning that the province was facing a “mega-drought challenge”.

The CEO of the Mashhad Water and Wastewater Company put forward an even lower figure.

“The storage level of the city’s main dam is less than three percent,” Hossein Esmaeilian said.

“Only three percent of the combined capacity of Mashhad’s four water supply dams – Torogh, Kardeh, Doosti and Ardak – remains. Apart from the Doosti dam, the other three are out of service.”

Iran’s water crisis has been going on for decades.

Even Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly acknowledged the looming threat – mentioning water shortages in his Nowruz speeches in 2011 and on other occasions in subsequent years.

Yet little has changed.

Today, Tehran, Karaj and Mashhad – together home to more than 16 million people – face the real risk that their taps will run dry.