Iran is going through a terrible water crisis: it hasn’t rained in the country for months and the dams are emptying. For this reason the Government has started the procedures for the so-called ‘cloud seeding‘, a technology to artificially induce rain by “seeding” clouds. Local newspapers and international news agencies report it.
What is happening in Iran
Iran, due to its geographical location, normally has an arid climate. But in recent months the situation is particularly serious: a historic drought in the country has led to a 100% drop in rainfall in the region of Tehran.
In early November, the country’s government said 67% of its dams were empty due to the collapse of autumn rains, with the capital preparing for rationing. According to what was declared by theIranian Water AuthorityIndeed, rainfall had reached historic lows, with 20 of Iran’s 31 provinces having recorded no rainfall since the start of the new water year in late September.
Ali Seyedzadehgeneral director ofNational Water and Wastewater Management Officetold state TV that rainfall since the start of October had been just 2.2 millimetres, down 83% from last year and 77% from long-term averages.
Unfortunately, the director also announced that the weather forecast does not predict rain anytime soon.
A decidedly unsustainable situation, aggravated in some border areas between Iran And Afghanistan where, again at the beginning of November, a sand and dust storm broke out.
(…) some border regions between Iran and Afghanistan, which previously consisted of wetlands and swamps, have transformed into salt marshes and arid lands due to severe drought and reduced water flow
reports the local portal Haft-e Sobh
What is the ‘cloud seeding‘
In 2024, Spain was hit by a terrible flood, which literally submerged Valencia. On that occasion, the theory spread according to which the cloud seeding that had been implemented in Morocco was a possible cause.
Nothing could be further from the truth, as well as some other imaginative hypotheses which supported how the term ‘cloud seeding‘ actually indicated chemtrails (which in themselves have very little scientific value).
To clarify, we interviewed Antonello Pasiniclimate physicist and leading researcher at the CNR.
Cloud seeding is an experimental technique to make rain, used for decades, but which has never led to certain results – the expert explained to us – Certainly, the technique used in Morocco in August cannot cause what happened in Spain. It is a technique that can increase rainfall by 10, 15 or at most 20%.
Do ‘cloud seeding‘in practice means “shooting” silver iodide particles into the clouds via airplanes or cannons which favor the condensation of water vapor and the formation of raindrops.
This technique has been used for some time, especially in countries with arid climates to try to mitigate the effects of drought, as well as very serious indirect effects such as the increase in air pollution, which in some regions of the world sometimes becomes unbreathable.
And today we learn that even theIrangrappling with a ferocious water crisis and which had already declared in 2024 to have perfected the technique, is operating in the same way.
But in reality nothing “new”. What should concern us, if anything, is why some countries in the world are forced to do this. The shadow of climate change – unfortunately it still needs to be reiterated – is advancing unabated.
Sources: Iran International November 16, 2025 / Al Jazeera / Iran International November 5, 2025 / Haft-e Sobh
