Iranian authorities have initiated cloud-seeding operations in a desperate bid to induce rainfall, as the country grapples with its most severe drought in decades, according to state media reports. The first mission of the new water year, which began in September, was carried out over the Urmia Lake basin in northwestern Iran—a region reeling from years of shrinking water reserves.
Urmia, once the largest lake in the region, has largely dried up and become a salt flat amid the prolonged water crisis. The authorities have announced that additional cloud-seeding flights will soon target the neighboring provinces of East and West Azerbaijan.
Cloud seeding involves dispersing particles like silver iodide and salt into clouds from aircraft, a technique aimed at triggering precipitation. Iran claims to have developed its own cloud-seeding technology, unveiled last year.
State media reported that rain had fallen in several western provinces, including Ilam, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, and Lorestan, as well as in West Azerbaijan. Authorities also pointed to worrying statistics: they say that rainfall this year has plunged about 89 percent below the long-term average. The meteorological organisation further warned that the country is experiencing its driest autumn in half a century.
The drought’s effects are being felt acutely in Tehran, where rainfall has dropped to its lowest levels in a century, according to local officials. Reservoirs supplying the capital and other provinces are dangerously low, raising alarm about the potential for widespread water shortages.
Meanwhile, some regions have witnessed rare snowfall. Footage aired on state media showed snow atop Tochal Mountain and its nearby ski resort in the Alborz range north of Tehran—an unusual occurrence amid this drought.
In a reflection of how dire the situation has become, clerics have called on citizens to perform rain-seeking prayers known as salat al-istisqa. Reports say worshippers gathered at shrines in Tehran, Mashhad, Qom, and Qazvin, appealing to the divine for relief from the parched conditions. Experts, however, caution that cloud seeding is not a silver bullet. While the technique is widely used and can boost precipitation under favorable atmospheric conditions, its outcomes remain modest and variable.
The drought, officials say, is being driven by a mix of climate change, overextraction of groundwater, inefficient agricultural practices, and decades of mismanagement. The severity of the crisis has reignited debates about long-term solutions—and how much reliance the country can place on technological fixes like cloud seeding in the face of such systemic challenges.
