Published On 17/11/2025
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Last update: 04:26 (Mecca time)
Iranian authorities said they had carried out cloud seeding operations, in light of a drought that was one of the worst in the country in decades.
Agence France-Presse quoted IRNA as saying that the vaccination process took place the day before yesterday, Saturday, over the basin of Lake Urmia, which is located in mountainous areas in northwestern Iran and is considered the largest there, but its level began to decline since 1995 due to drought.
IRNA reported that other operations will take place later in the provinces of East and West Azerbaijan.
This technology is based on cloud seeding by pollinating clouds with chemicals such as silver iodide. Iran, which has been suffering from drought for several years, announced last year that it had developed its own technology in this field.
According to IRNA, Iran is currently experiencing “the driest autumn in 50 years,” and it quoted the national meteorologist as saying that the rainfall rate this year is 89% less than the long-term average.
However, the same agency reported on Saturday that rain had fallen in several areas in the west and northwest of the country, and local media broadcast video clips showing heavy rains in Ahvaz and Shushtar (southwest), as well as in Salmas and Urmia (northwest) and Abadanan (west). In some areas, heavy rains caused floods.
At the beginning of this month, President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that Tehran residents may have to be evacuated due to water shortages if rain does not fall before the end of the year.
The government later clarified that this statement was intended to warn residents about the seriousness of the situation, and not to announce an actual operational plan.
