President: Tehran’s water shortages, land sinking make relocation "obligatory"

Iran’s capital, Tehran, is facing an ecological crisis so severe that the government may be forced to relocate the city, President Masoud Pezeshkian warned on November 20.

Speaking in Qazvin, Pezeshkian cited mounting pressure on water, land, and infrastructure as leaving authorities with “no option” but to take drastic action, Caliber.Az reports via Iranian media.

“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,” Pezeshkian said, according to state media.

The president described a worsening situation in Tehran, where land in parts of the city is sinking by up to 30 centimetres a year and water supplies are shrinking. He warned that mismanagement, construction in upstream areas, and reductions in downstream water flows risk irreversible damage.

“When we say the land subsides 30 centimetres each day, this means disaster,” Pezeshkian said. He urged officials across government to cooperate, stressing that failure to protect the environment would lead to “a dark future.”

Pezeshkian also highlighted the mismatch between water resources and the city’s growing demand. While bringing water from the Persian Gulf is technically possible, he said it would come at a high cost. The president concluded that Tehran’s population and construction load can no longer be sustained, underlining the urgent need for action.

Foreign media report that in the autumn of 2025, nearly half of Iran – 15 out of 31 provinces – experienced no rainfall. The level of precipitation was recorded as unprecedentedly low, approaching the lowest in the past 100 years. Over the past five years, Iran has seen a consistent decline in rainfall. According to local meteorological services, rainfall in Tehran this year was 40% below the normal level.

Due to the water shortage, Iranian authorities have implemented nightly water shutoffs. In Mashhad, the country’s second-largest city, water reserves in the four dams supplying the city fell to just 3% in early November.

Earlier reports indicated that Iran had begun “moving” thunderclouds to drought-stricken regions.

By Vugar Khalilov