Even with Normal Rainfall, Iran's Water Resources Are Only Sufficient for 50 Million People

The head of the Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Shiraz University states that even if the average rainfall in the country returns to its normal level, Iran's water resources will only suffice for the lives of "between 40 to 50 million people." Mohammad Jafar Nazem al-Sadat mentioned on Sunday, June 9, that several provinces in Iran experienced near-normal rainfall this year, speaking to ILNA news agency. He said, "Approaching the average rainfall is for a condition where the population was between 40 to 50 million, and now with a doubled population, even if the rainfall is within the normal range, it is not sufficient." This atmospheric researcher further stated that "currently, water reserves in Iran have been depleted, and there is no water left for storage. In this situation, if in a season like this spring, rainfall in a province is near normal, it does not mean that this amount can compensate for the shortage." He then explained that the number of drought periods in Fars province is greater than that of wet periods, stating, "We are continuously facing water stress, and land subsidence means the end of the soil's water absorption capacity." An official stated that more than 330 cities in Iran are experiencing water stress. Iran has struggled with severe water shortages and environmental crises for over a decade. The inadequacy of water resources for about half of Iran's population comes at a time when two senior officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) called for an increase in Iran's population during a speech at a "Youth Population Conference" on Saturday, June 8. Hossein Salami, the IRGC commander, stated, "If the population growth rate does not become exponential, the society will age, and an aging society is doomed to extinction." Additionally, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, another official from this military-security body, criticized the tendency of Iranian citizens to marry and not have children, declaring, "Population decline is the most important issue of the country, and we are facing a very serious danger today." Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, initiated a population growth project at the beginning of the 1390s (2011-2012), with keywords such as "population growth," "childbearing," and "youthfulness"; these keywords have entered the laws and financial documents of the Iranian government over the past decade. Khamenei describes "population growth" as a tool of national power and calls for the country's population to reach 150 million. Research by Radio Farda's data mining group shows that in the 2023 budget law, at least 10,899 billion tomans have been allocated directly for the "population project." This figure is about seven times the budget of the Ministry of Science, about four times the budget of the Ministry of Labor, Cooperation, and Social Welfare, nearly double the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture, and three times the total budget of the Environmental Organization.