Authorities in Iran have sprayed clouds with chemicals to induce rainfall in an attempt to tackle the worst drought in recent years. According to Iran’s official news agency IRNA, the process, known as cloud seeding, was carried out over the Lake Urmia basin on Saturday (November 15). Urmia is Iran’s largest lake, however, it has largely dried up, leaving behind a vast expanse of salt. The agency reported that further cloud seeding operations will be conducted in the eastern and western Azerbaijan regions. It’s worth noting that rainfall is at historically low levels, and dams are nearly empty. Last week, President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that if sufficient rainfall doesn’t occur soon, water supply to Tehran may be restricted and the population might need to be evacuated from the capital.
The process involves injecting chemical salts, such as silver iodide or potassium iodide, into clouds via aircraft or ground-based generators. As a result, water vapor can condense more easily and turn into rain.
This particular process is not unprecedented, as this technique has been used for decades, and the United Arab Emirates has utilized it in recent years to address water shortages.
Iran: The driest autumn the country has seen in 50 years
According to IRNA, Iran’s meteorological service stated that rainfall has decreased by approximately 89% this year compared to the long-term average.
“We are currently experiencing the driest autumn the country has seen in 50 years,” it reported.
Meanwhile, authorities have also announced plans to impose fines on households and businesses that consume excessive amounts of water. The head of Iran’s National Center for Climate and Drought Crisis Management, Ahmad Vazifeh, stated that dams in Tehran, West and East Azerbaijan, and Markazi are in a “worrying state,” with water levels in single-digit percentages.
For their part, Iranian meteorologists emphasized that there was some rainfall in the western and northwestern parts of the country on Saturday – with video showing snowfall at a ski resort north of Tehran for the first time this year.
