Iranians have faced water scarcity, reports Al Jazeera news agency.
It is noted that years of drought, reduced precipitation, and unsustainable use of water resources have led to water scarcity in the country. As a result, reservoirs, rivers, and groundwater reserves are decreasing.
Furthermore, the war between the US and Israel against Iran has further worsened the situation. In the initial weeks of the conflict, desalination plants, pipelines, and other civilian water infrastructure were damaged.
"Satellite images reflecting the change over time of Lake Urmia in northwestern Iran show that the largest salt lake in the Middle East, which covered nearly 6,000 square kilometers in the 1990s, had shrunk to just 581 square kilometers by 2026," the report says.
According to Iran's Vice President for Rural Development and Deprived Areas, of the 69,000 villages in the country, only 38,000 continue to be inhabited. 31,000 villages have been completely abandoned.
