Overview

• National Meteorological Service reports that several areas in Iran have seen temperatures soar above 50°C during the hottest week on record.
• Tehran’s water management company says dam reservoirs are at their lowest levels in a century after years of declining rainfall.
• Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani declared Wednesday a public holiday in Tehran province, suspending government and commercial activities.
• Officials mandated at least a 20 percent reduction in water use and imposed supply cuts causing up to 18-hour outages, prompting an apology from Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi.
• Long-term groundwater overexploitation and declining rainfall linked to climate change have compounded the shortage.