As temperatures soar past 50 degrees Celsius, a new wave of public anger is rising across Iran. On July 21, the people of Nasimshahr, Tehran, took to the streets to protest being left without any water for three days in the scorching summer heat. This is not an isolated incident. Across the capital and in other cities, the regime is imposing long, rolling blackouts, creating unbearable living conditions for millions.
July 21—Nasimshahr, northern Iran
Residents of the Vajeh Abad neighborhood protests a three-day complete water outage during the scorching heat of July. Authorities took no measure to provide alternative water sources.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/bhPH8YAYSM— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) July 21, 2025
In a brazen display of contempt for the public, the regime’s officials are placing the blame squarely on the victims. Tehran’s Water and Wastewater Company shamelessly blames “increased temperatures and peak consumption” while threatening citizens with 24-hour water cuts and exponential price hikes if they use “too much” water. On July 16, citizens were warned to cut consumption by 20% or face “strict policies.”
The regime’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has offered no solutions, merely calling the problem “fundamental” and shutting down Tehran province for a day on July 23 to “save water and electricity,” a move that fails to address the crisis’s root cause.
A catastrophic failure in plain sight
While the regime blames the weather and the people, the data reveals a catastrophic failure of management. The reservoirs supplying Tehran are at their lowest levels in a century. Taken together, Tehran’s dams are holding a mere 16% of their total capacity.
The situation at individual dams is dire:
- Lar Dam: In a state of crisis at only 7% capacity.
- Karaj (Amirkabir) Dam: Only 38% full, a staggering 58% decrease compared to last year.
- Taleghan Dam: Down 32% from last year, with only 53% of its capacity filled.
- Latyan and Mamlu Dams: Both are in a state of alert, with their reserves down 47% from last year.
This collapse is the culmination of years of predictable decline, which the regime has willfully ignored.
#Breaking Iran News – July 21, 2025
Residents of Nasimshahr, Tehran, protest water shortages amid Iran's worsening water crisis.
Isa Kalantari, former head of Iran’s Environment Department:
"Iran’s water crisis is just the start. It will worsen annually, unfolding as a… pic.twitter.com/u93cIUHhQW— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) July 21, 2025
The real culprits: Khamenei’s and the IRGC’s “water mafia”
The real cause of Iran’s water crisis is not a lack of rain but a surplus of corruption. The crisis has been engineered by a “water mafia” controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the office of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Even state-run media have been forced to admit the existence of this mafia, alongside a dilapidated water transfer network suffering from a lack of investment and a total absence of transparency.
For decades, the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters and other entities linked to Khamenei have plundered the nation’s surface and groundwater. They have pushed through destructive projects, including uncontrolled dam-building and the establishment of water-guzzling industries in arid regions, all to line their own pockets. Billions of cubic meters of water are wasted or diverted to regime-affiliated industries while ordinary people are left with dry taps.
A political crisis demanding a political solution
The water crisis in Iran is not a technical, behavioral, or even purely environmental problem. It is a direct and inevitable symptom of an anti-people, plunder-driven regime. The parched lands and empty reservoirs mirror the empty promises and moral bankruptcy of the ruling clerics. So long as the IRGC and Khamenei’s mafia control Iran’s destiny, there is no hope for restoring water, electricity, clean air, or the empty tables of the Iranian people.
The protests in Nasimshahr are not just a cry for water; they are a demand for life and dignity. The only way to quench Iran’s thirst is to remove the corrupt and criminal structure that has put a lock on the nation’s most vital resources.