Tehran, March 10 — Residents of Iran are facing an escalating water crisis as ongoing conflict and long-standing environmental challenges combine to push the country toward severe shortages.
Iran had already been struggling with water scarcity due to Climate Change and years of poor resource management. The current war has now intensified the crisis, threatening water supplies for millions of people.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi alleged on Saturday that the United States bombed a desalination plant on Qeshm Island, cutting off water supplies to around 30 nearby villages. Washington has denied responsibility for the attack.
Amid the rising tensions, Iran reportedly launched a retaliatory strike on a desalination facility in Bahrain. The exchange has raised concerns about further attacks on vital water infrastructure across the Gulf region, potentially putting millions of civilians at risk.
The capital city, Tehran, home to about 10 million people, has been grappling with drought for years. Rainfall in the region dropped about 45 percent below normal last year, causing water levels in reservoirs to fall to historic lows. Iran’s meteorological authorities have warned that several cities could soon face critical shortages.
Before the war began, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had already warned that worsening water shortages and environmental degradation were making Tehran increasingly difficult to inhabit. He even proposed relocating the country’s capital to address the crisis.
Experts say the roots of the problem lie in decades of mismanagement. Following the Iranian Revolution, Iran launched extensive dam and reservoir construction projects to boost water security. However, analysts argue that many were built in unsuitable locations, prioritizing electricity generation and economic gain over environmental sustainability.
Eric Lob, an associate professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University, said the country was already facing severe shortages before the war. “Water scarcity and power outages had reached alarming levels, and now the government has an opportunity to blame the war for the crisis,” he said.
Research published in 2024 found that 32 of the world’s 50 most heavily pumped groundwater basins are located in Iran. According to Francesco Femia, co-founder of the Center for Climate and Security, even rainfall in recent months has failed to replenish underground water reserves because the soil has become extremely dry and degraded.
Meanwhile, Michael S. Remmellion, director of the Global Water Security Center at the University of Alabama, warned that the drought shows no sign of easing in the near future. He cautioned that the combination of water shortages and wartime economic destruction could trigger severe food shortages and force many people to migrate.
Analysts also argue that Iranian authorities have long prioritized military capabilities, nuclear ambitions, and regional conflicts over addressing environmental and public health challenges—leaving the country increasingly vulnerable to crises like the current one.
