Authorities in Iran have sprayed clouds with chemicals to induce rain, in an attempt to combat the country's worst drought in decades.
Known as cloud-seeding, the process was conducted over the Urmia lake basin on Saturday, as reported by Iran's official news agency Irna.
Urmia is Iran's largest lake but has largely dried out, leaving a vast salt bed. Further operations will be carried out in East and West Azerbaijan.
Rainfall is at record lows and reservoirs are nearly empty. Last week, President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that if there is not enough rainfall soon, Tehran's water supply could be rationed and residents may face evacuations from the capital.
Cloud seeding involves injecting chemical salts such as silver or potassium iodide into clouds. This process allows water vapor to condense more easily and turn into rain.
The technique has been utilized for decades, with the UAE employing it recently to mitigate water shortages. According to Iran's meteorological organization, rainfall has decreased by about 89% this year compared to the long-term average.
We are currently experiencing the driest autumn the country has encountered in 50 years, they added.
In addition to cloud seeding, authorities have announced plans to penalize households and businesses that consume excessive amounts of water.
The head of Iran's National Centre for Climate and Drought Crisis Management, Ahmad Vazifeh, indicated that dams in Tehran and the provinces of West and East Azerbaijan are in a worrying state, with water levels reaching single-digit percentages.
On Friday, hundreds gathered at a mosque in Tehran to pray for rainfall, while Iranian meteorologists reported some rainfall in the west and northwest of the country on Saturday, along with snowfall at a ski resort near Tehran for the first time this year.
