Iran is facing a critical water crisis. It’s threatening daily life, the economy, and even the political stability of the country.
Officials warn that Iran’s Lake Urmia, the world’s second-biggest saltwater lake, could be completely dry by the end of this summer.
Time-lapse satellite images from 2000 to 2025 show what was once the Middle East’s largest lake shrinking dramatically, year after year.
Janatan Sayeh with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies says a five-year drought, crippling power shortages, and questions over the management of dams are pushing the country to the brink.
“Iran is currently becoming increasingly uninhabitable, in part because of climate change,” Sayeh told CBN News. “But the main culprit, at least how the Iranian people see it, is the regime’s mismanagement. These mega-projects, created by the government, continue to worsen the situation for everyday Iranians.”
The strain reaches across the entire economy. Industries are shutting down, schools are going dark, and millions of Iranians are struggling as the government cuts energy and water use.
Tehran and other cities already face two-hour blackouts every other day. Experts warn that it could soon double to four hours.
“For example, one day we get a text message telling us the power will be out from this time to that time,” said Ramin, a Tehran shopkeeper. “But sometimes when they announce a certain hour, the outage doesn’t happen exactly then.”
“The issue started with water, and then it led to power outages,” said Sayeh. “Many industrial cities are shutting down because they don’t have enough electricity or water. It’s going beyond an environmental crisis; it’s an economic crisis.”
Chanting “water and electricity are our basic rights,” protesters in several Iranian cities have marched in recent weeks over repeated outages.
“If someone really wanted to, they could easily solve this problem, in my opinion,” argued Javad, a resident of Tehran.
“It’s really an attack on Iranian sense of nationalism. A once prosperous country is now drying up, and the average Iranian, from different sectors, such as the labor class that are getting laid off because of the water and power issue, as well as the day-to-day business people are also grappling, with the current circumstances,” said Sayeh.
According to Iranian media, three of the country’s major dams have already run dry this summer. Reservoirs are reportedly down to just 41% capacity.
And Iran’s president has warned the capital, Tehran, could run out of water entirely by the end of summer, saying, “If we cannot manage, and people do not cooperate in controlling consumption, there won’t be any water in dams by September or October.”
The only hope would be above-average rain or snowfall and possible imports from other countries.
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