Daijiworld Media Network – Tehran

Tehran, Nov 3: Tehran, home to over 10 million people, is facing an acute water crisis, with its main source of drinking water, the Amir Kabir Dam, expected to run dry within two weeks due to a severe drought, according to reports by Iranian state media.

The Amir Kabir Dam, one of five key reservoirs supplying water to the capital, currently holds only 14 million cubic metres of water — barely 8 percent of its total capacity — warned Behzad Parsa, Director of Tehran’s Water Company. “At this level, the dam can only supply the city for two more weeks,” Parsa told the state-run IRNA news agency on Sunday.

Iran is reeling under what officials describe as its worst drought in decades. Rainfall levels in Tehran province have dropped to the lowest in nearly a century. A year ago, the Amir Kabir Dam contained around 86 million cubic metres of water, but authorities now report a “100 percent drop in precipitation” in the region.

Tehran’s daily water consumption stands at approximately three million cubic metres, making the current levels dangerously low. Officials have begun implementing water rationing in some neighbourhoods, while residents have already faced frequent supply cuts through the summer.

In July and August, authorities even declared two public holidays to conserve water and energy as temperatures soared above 40°C in Tehran and crossed 50°C in several other regions, causing widespread power outages.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has described the situation as “far more serious than what is being publicly discussed,” warning of deepening impacts if urgent measures are not taken.

Water scarcity remains a pressing issue across Iran, especially in its arid southern provinces, where decades of groundwater overuse, mismanagement, and the effects of climate change have intensified the crisis.

Neighbouring Iraq is also grappling with its driest year since 1993, as declining rainfall and upstream water restrictions on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have slashed water levels by up to 27 percent, triggering a humanitarian emergency in southern Iraq.

With reservoirs running dangerously low, experts warn that without immediate and large-scale conservation efforts, Tehran could soon face one of the most severe urban water shortages in its history.