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Iran Begins Cloud-Seeding Flights in Emergency Response to Worst Drought in 50 Years

State forecasters report rainfall at 89% below the long-term average.

Overview

  • State media said a plane seeded clouds over Lake Urmia on Saturday in the country’s northwest.
  • The drought has left about half of provinces without rain for months and triggered closures of factories, government offices and public restrooms.
  • Iran’s largest lake has largely dried into a salt plain after prolonged water scarcity.
  • President Massud Peseschkian warned that Tehran would have to be evacuated if it does not rain by the end of the year.
  • The move uses a technique employed in countries including the United States, China and India, while efforts to set global rules for geoengineering have failed at the United Nations.