Iranian authorities launched a cloud-seeding operation on Saturday, November 15, to induce rain, as Iran experiences one of its worst droughts in decades, state media reported.
“Today, cloud seeding flights were carried out in the Lake Urmia basin for the first time in the hydrological year”which began in September, the official IRNA news agency reported late Saturday. Iran’s largest lake in the northwest of the country has largely shrunk due to drought. According to IRNA, other operations will follow, in East and West Azerbaijan provinces.
Cloud seeding involves spraying particles, including silver iodide, into these formations to trigger deposition. In 2024, Iran announced that it had developed its own technology in this area.
Reservoirs are at historically low levels
The largely arid country has suffered from years of chronic drought and heat waves that are expected to worsen with climate change.
According to IRNA, Iran is currently experiencing it “Driest autumn in fifty years”. Precipitation this year was 89% below the long-term average, according to the National Weather Service, which the agency cited.
But on Saturday, IRNA reported the arrival of rain in several areas in the west and northwest of the country. State media also showed the first snowfall in the Elburz mountains and the Tochal ski resort, located north of Tehran.
According to local authorities, rainfall in the capital was the lowest in a century, and half of Iran’s provinces have not seen a drop of rain for months. Water levels in reservoirs that supply water to many provinces have reached historic lows.
Earlier this month, President Massoud Pezeshkian warned that without rain before winter, Tehran might have to be evacuated. The government later clarified that it wanted to remind the public of the seriousness of the situation, and not announce concrete projects. Other countries in the region, most notably the United Arab Emirates, also use cloud seeding to produce artificial rain.
