Iranian authorities have begun reducing nighttime water pressure across Tehran in response to an escalating drought that has left reservoirs critically low. Officials insist the move is not “water rationing,” but many residents and experts see it as an early stage of an inevitable crisis that could force mass evacuations if conditions do not improve soon.
According to reports from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), residents of Tehran have documented growing interruptions to their water supply. State media have begun cautiously discussing the possibility of rationing and even relocating the capital if dams and aquifers fail to recover. Reza Hajikarim, head of Iran’s Water Industry Federation, stated on television that “water rationing should have started much earlier,” warning that Tehran now relies on underground water sources for 62 percent of its needs, while aquifer levels continue to drop.
Despite these warnings, Iran’s National Water and Wastewater Company denied that rationing was taking place. In statements carried by the state-linked Fars News Agency, officials claimed that the country has not implemented a formal schedule for water distribution. Instead, they described the nightly pressure reductions—from midnight until dawn—as a “management tool” to reduce leakage and help reservoirs refill.
Independent and opposition sources, however, describe the situation as far more dire. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported that 19 dams are near depletion, while over 20 more are at less than five percent capacity. The group called the country’s water system an “emergency,” blaming decades of mismanagement, corruption, and failure to modernize infrastructure as Iran’s population and water demand soared.
Experts say short-term fixes like lowering pressure or urging citizens to conserve water cannot address the structural problems that have led to repeated crises. The NCRI and other analysts point to aging pipelines—some over a century old—as a major cause of water loss. Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi admitted this week that Tehran’s water system is “more than 100 years old and worn-out,” linking current difficulties to both infrastructure decay and regional instability following Iranian military clashes with Israel and the United States earlier this year.
In Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city, officials have acknowledged that water reserves from local dams have dropped to just three percent of capacity. The government has responded by calling for “moral discipline” among citizens, urging reduced water consumption.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has openly warned that Tehran may soon face evacuation if rainfall does not increase. He told local media that without rain by late November, rationing will be unavoidable—and if drought persists beyond that, “we will have to evacuate the city.” Pezeshkian has long advocated relocating Iran’s capital closer to the Persian Gulf, where desalination and access to coastal resources could mitigate future shortages.
With rainfall already down nearly 60 percent from historical averages, experts warn that Iran’s capital is nearing a breaking point. Unless the government enacts major reforms and significant rain arrives soon, Tehran’s 9 million residents may be facing the most severe water crisis in the nation’s modern history.