Iran begins cloud seeding operations as severe drought bites

TEHRAN: Iranian authorities have launched cloud seeding operations to induce rainfall as the country faces its worst drought in decades, state media reported.

“Today, a cloud seeding flight was conducted in the Urmia Lake basin for the first time in the current water year,” which begins in September, the official IRNA news agency said late Saturday.

Urmia, in the northwest, is Iran’s largest lake, but has largely dried out and turned into a vast salt bed due to drought.

IRNA added that further operations would be carried out in the provinces of East and West Azerbaijan.

Cloud seeding involves spraying particles such as silver iodide and salt into clouds from aircraft to trigger rain.

Last year, Iran announced it had developed its own technology for the practice.

On Saturday, IRNA reported that rain had fallen in Ilam, Kermanshah, Kurdistan and Lorestan in the west, as well as in the northwestern West Azerbaijan province.

It quoted the country’s meteorological organisation as saying rainfall had decreased by about 89 percent this year compared with the long-term average.

“We are currently experiencing the driest autumn the country has experienced in 50 years,” it added.

State media has shown footage of snow falling on the Tochal mountain and ski resort, located in the Tehran area on the Alborz range, for the first time this year.

Iran, a largely arid country, has for years suffered chronic dry spells and heat waves expected to worsen with climate change.

Rainfall in the capital Tehran has been at its lowest level in a century, according to local officials, and half of Iran’s provinces have not seen a drop of rain in months.

Water levels at reservoirs supplying many provinces have fallen to record lows.

Earlier this month, President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that without rain before winter, Tehran could face evacuation, though he did not elaborate.

Other countries in the region, including the United Arab Emirates, have also used cloud seeding to artificially produce rain.