Iranian officials warned of water cuts in parts of Tehran as drought worsens. Authorities plan rotating rationing, with 62% of the city’s supply from declining underground sources, raising fears of potential evacuation.
Iranian officials warned of cuts to drinking supplies for parts of Tehran, as the country grapples with a deepening water crisis caused by a yearslong drought.
The warnings on November 8 came a day after President Masud Pezeshkian said the Iranian capital might have to be evacuated if the situation continues to worsen.
“Water rationing should have started much earlier,” Reza Hajikarim, head of the Iranian Water Industry Federation, said on state television. “Currently, 62 percent of Tehran’s water is supplied from underground sources, and the level of these aquifers has dropped.”
Energy Minister Abbas Ali Abadi signaled that officials would move to ration water supplies in some Tehran districts, likely on a rotating basis