Drought and dams: Not oil, but water is fast becoming a security threat in West Asia

Tehran has experienced scarcity as the country over on with the West Asia conflict they have no longer any choice as Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian commented about the ecological strain posing on Tehran which will make it impossible to sustain. 

Pezeshkian said the pressure on water, land and infrastructure had left the government with “no option” but to act. 

“When we said we must move the capital, we did not even have enough budget. If we had, maybe it would have been done. The reality is that we no longer have a choice; it is an obligation,” he said in a speech in Qazvin.

He emphasised the role of resources and said that the city is galloping in a catastrophe as land in parts of the capital sinks by up to 30 centimeters a year and water supplies shrink.

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“When we say the land subsides 30 centimeters each day, this means disaster,” he said. 

He warned about the mismanagement of upstream areas, leading to water scarcity leading to irreversible damage. 

Pezeshkian said officials across government should work together to bring change instead of a dark future. 

“Protecting the environment is not a joke. Ignoring it means signing our own destruction,” he said

The President specified that the imbalance between demands and needs are unmatched. As the country is recovering from large-scale damage, the economical condition is also deeply affected. 

“We can bring water from the Persian Gulf, but it will be costly,” he said, arguing that Tehran’s population and construction load can no longer expand.

Shifting the capital

Iran announced in January that the government was planning to move the capital to the southern Makran coast, a remote region overlooking the Gulf of Oman. 

Officials said the shift could ease Tehran’s overcrowding, energy shortages and water shortage.

Officials have said Makran’s coastline offers access to the Indian Ocean and a base for sea-linked economic projects. The area includes Chabahar, Iran’s only oceanic port and a gateway to Central Asia.