The alarm bells of the “water crisis in Tehran” are ringing with deafening sounds—so much so that even the regime’s leaders and state-controlled media have been forced to acknowledge parts of the looming mega-crisis.
One headline reads: “Danger Lurking for Tehran Residents” (Khabar Online), while another states: “Water Shortage in Tehran is Serious” (Fararu). One warns: “Tehran’s Water Conditions Have Turned Red” (Shargh), and yet another goes beyond “red,” declaring: “Tehran on the Brink of Drought” (Etemad).
The regime’s Deputy Minister of Energy, stated on Sunday, March 9, that the biggest crisis facing Tehran is water. “Traffic and air pollution can be resolved, but water cannot.”
He added: “We have nearly 20 million people in this region who depend on the Latian, Karaj, Lar, and Taleqan dams. Looking at the state of these dams, the water crisis in the capital is deeply concerning. If this situation continues into the summer, it will lead to serious imbalances and the potential for water cuts. Tehran, Isfahan, and Qom are in a more critical situation than other parts of the country.”
On March 10, the state-run ISNA news agency published an article titled “The Bitter Reality of Tehran’s Water Shortage,” in which Issa Bozorgzadeh, the spokesperson for the water industry, warned that if the current trend continues, Tehran’s surface water resources will be lost.
Images circulating on social media show the Latian Dam reduced to a narrow stream in the dry bed of a massive reservoir. The state-affiliated website Entekhab reported on March 9: “Drought has reached Latian Dam.” Of the dam’s total 95 million cubic meter capacity, only 9 million cubic meters contain water. In other words, only about 9% of the dam’s reservoir is full, while roughly 91% is empty.
The situation at the Karaj Dam is even worse. Photos show the towering walls of an old dam, with only a small pool of water collected at its base. The state-run Etemad newspaper reports: “Karaj Dam is on the verge of running completely dry.” Further revelations expose the severity of the disaster: “The Karaj Dam contains only 8% of its total water capacity!” (Chand Sanieh). However, the director of water resource studies at the Alborz Regional Water Company says the situation is even more dire, admitting: “The Karaj Dam is nearly empty and currently holds 55% less water than last year” (Rajhan Sezavar).
Mehdi Pirhadi, a member of Tehran’s City Council, revealed that a confidential letter has been sent to the heads of the regime’s three branches regarding the crisis. He stated: “These letters address land subsidence in Tehran province. With a population exceeding 15 million and a density approximately 19 times that of the rest of the country, Tehran is facing both a severe water crisis and land subsidence.”
Of course, regime officials are well aware of this crisis, making a confidential letter unnecessary. They are particularly conscious of the imbalance crisis—especially the water crisis—which is expected to manifest itself from spring onwards and could even surpass the mega-crisis of power outages. However, their concern is not technical but security-related, as demonstrated by a recent headline from the state-run Asr Iran website: “Iran’s Imbalance Bomb!”