Latest news with #Alborz
CTV News
31-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
This city could run dry ‘within weeks' as it grapples with an acute water crisis
The Amir Kabir dam in Iran's northern Alborz mountain range on June 1, 2025. Many of the country's dams are at alarmingly low levels. (Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource) Iran's capital Tehran could be weeks away from 'day zero,' experts say — the day when taps run dry for large parts of the city — as the country suffers a severe water crisis. Key reservoirs are shrinking, authorities are scrambling to reduce water consumption and residents are desperately trying to conserve it to stave off catastrophe. 'If we do not make urgent decisions today, we will face a situation in the future that cannot be solved,' President Masoud Pezeshkian said at a cabinet meeting Monday. Water is inherently short in supply in this arid nation. The difference is this crisis is hitting the capital, said Kaveh Madani, director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health. Tehran, home to around 10 million people, could run out of water altogether if consumption levels are not reduced, experts fear. 'We are talking about a possible day zero within weeks,' said Madani, who previously served as the deputy head of Iran's Department of Environment. The roots of the crisis lie in a tangle of factors including what engineers describe as decades of poor water management and an increasing imbalance between supply and demand. It's all compounded by climate change. Iran is experiencing one of its worst droughts on record, and its fifth consecutive year of drought. The country is also baking under brutal heat. Temperatures spiked above 122 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of the country this month, according to climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera. 'Iran seems almost perennially in a record-heat status,' he told CNN. In response to the crisis, authorities have reduced water pressure in Tehran by almost half, affecting around 80% of households, the governor of Tehran Province Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian said Monday. For people living in tall apartment buildings, that can mean no water supply at all. One man who lives on the 14th floor in Tehran says his taps often run dry. Water is being delivered to the capital by tankers, and residents who can afford it are rushing to install storage tanks, Madani said. 'We have never had a situation like this… this is new to Tehran.' Last week, the Iranian government declared a one-day public holiday in Tehran Province, as well as other regions across the country, in an effort to save water and electricity. It's now considering giving people in Tehran a week's public holiday, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said in a press briefing Monday, in hopes people will temporarily leave the city, cutting water demand. Water experts point to mismanagement as a big factor in the crisis. Human activities, including excessive groundwater pumping, inefficient farming practices and unchecked urban water use have pushed the region 'toward what can only be described as water bankruptcy,' said Amir AghaKouchak, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and Earth system science at the University of California, Irvine. Madani echoes this. It is 'water bankruptcy, because it's not a crisis anymore… (it's) a situation where some of the damages are irreversible,' he said. In Tehran, so much water has been pumped from aquifers to support its increasing population that parts of the city are sinking, sometimes by more than 10 inches a year. The capital 'is grappling with a systemic, long-term imbalance that threatens the very foundations of water security for its residents,' AghaKouchak told CNN. Climate change is making a bad situation much worse. Iran has seen a more than 40% decrease in rainfall this year compared to the long-term average, and the Tehran Regional Water Company says dams that supply the capital are at about 21% of their capacity, according to Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency. All but one of Iran's 31 provinces are experiencing water stress, said Iran's energy minister Abbas Aliabadi, as reported by Mehr News. When asked about the possibility of water rationing, he said: 'I hope this does not happen.' Experts say there are no easy answers to this crisis. The government is opting for 'band aid' measures, such as new water transfer projects, Madani said. Technical solutions such as desalination and wastewater recycling must be part of picture, he added, but 'these address the symptoms for a while without curing the cause.' He advocates for a wholesale overhaul of the economy to move away from water-intensive agriculture — which currently accounts for about 90% of Iran's water use — toward services and industry with a much lighter water footprint. This kind of reform is likely to be painful and costly, both economically and politically, and highly unlikely under the current government and given the sanctions imposed on Iran by the US and others, he said. Ultimately, the roots of the crisis are not just environmental or technical but 'deeply political and systemic,' AghaKouchak said. 'Iran's water crisis cannot be separated from its broader governance crisis.' For now, the country is waiting for the fall and hoping it will bring rain. 'If Tehran survives until the end of September then there is hope for avoiding day zero,' Madani said. Written by Laura Paddison, CNN
Globe and Mail
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Worries about the future overshadow ceasefire relief as Iranians who fled the strikes return home
After 12 days of Israeli airstrikes that echoed in cities around the country, killing hundreds and sending waves of people fleeing their homes, Iranians voiced relief on Tuesday at the surprise overnight announcement of a ceasefire. For those in the Iranian capital it brought the prospect of a clean-up, a return to normal life and the soothing – for now at least – of anxiety about a further escalation and sustained warfare. Many Iranians who fled the strikes were also glad, able to return home after tiring, expensive stays outside the city in rented accommodation or with relatives. 'I am overjoyed. It is over and we finally can live in peace. It was an unnecessary war and we people paid the price for the authorities' war-mongering policies,' said Shima, 40, from Shiraz, withholding her name for fear of reprisals. As Iranians take shelter or flee, some also hope for the end of a repressive regime Just 24 hours earlier, plumes of smoke hung over parts of the capital as Israel targeted the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its paramilitary Basij militia, as well as Evin prison at the foot of the Alborz Mountains. One man in a busy Tehran street, who also asked to remain anonymous, said 'It's the people who are paying the price - whether our people or theirs. Both sides are bearing the cost so it's better that this happened sooner rather than later.' Israel has repeatedly warned residents to leave large swathes of the city before it conducted airstrikes, clogging the highways out of Tehran with vast traffic jams. Exhausted and running out of cash, many of them had started to return home even before the ceasefire was announced. Unease spreads through Iranian-Canadian communities after U.S. strikes Arash, a 39-year-old government employee, had taken his family to Damavand, a mountain resort 35 miles east of Tehran that is popular for its clean air and bucolic setting. They returned to Tehran two days ago. 'My wife and two children were terrified of the bombings but renting even a modest room in Damavand for any length of time is beyond my limited budget,' he said. Noushin, 35, drove almost five hours with her husband and child to stay with her mother-in-law in Sari, near Iran's Caspian coast. But the house was already crowded with relatives seeking shelter and Noushin decided they were better off at home. 'My child misses her room. I miss my house. How long can we live like this?' she asked. 'Even if there's another attack, I'd rather die in my own home.' Israel launched its surprise air war on June 13, hitting nuclear sites and killing military commanders in the worst blow to Iran since Iraq invaded in 1980, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes could result in regime change. However, there have been no signs of significant street protests against the Islamic Republic. Iranians contacted by Reuters, including some who oppose the Islamic Republic and have protested against it in the past, said the airstrikes had brought people to rally around national feeling in the face of what they saw as foreign aggression. Still, for many Iranians there is anger at the top ranks of the nation's leadership, and for those returning home the reality of a sanctions-hit economy remains. Ottawa advises Canadians to leave Iran or stay near a bomb shelter 'This is unacceptable. This is brutal. Why are we being attacked while the officials hide in safe places?' said Mohammad, 63, from Rasht. 'I place the blame on this country's decision-makers. Their policies have brought war and destruction upon us,' he said by phone. While Israel has repeatedly targeted both leaders and facilities of the internal security forces under the IRGC, state media has announced hundreds of arrests of people accused of spying. Black security vehicles were seen on the streets of Tehran on Tuesday and dissidents expressed fear of a coming crackdown by the authorities to ward off any attempt at mass protests. Accusations of ceasefire violations on Tuesday also raised fears that the war could reignite. 'I hope they (the Israelis) remain committed to the ceasefire. History has shown that they've never truly honoured it, but I still hope this time they do – because it's in our interest and theirs as well,' said one man on a Tehran street.
Free Malaysia Today
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Iran hangs man convicted of spying for Israel amid war
Israel launched a surprise attack targeting Iran's nuclear and military facilities on Friday. (AP pic) TEHRAN : Iran's judiciary said today it hanged a man arrested in 2023 and convicted of being a spy for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, as fighting raged between the two foes. 'Esmaeil Fekri, a Mossad agent convicted of the capital offences of 'corruption on Earth' and 'moharebeh' (waging war against god) was hanged after going through the full process of criminal procedure,' the judiciary's Mizan Online news website said. Mizan said the execution was carried out after all legal procedures were completed and the verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court. Yesterday, Iranian media reported that police in Alborz province, west of Tehran, had arrested two people suspected of links to Mossad. Later on the same day, Israel said it had arrested two citizens suspected of working for Iran's intelligence services. After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel on Friday launched a surprise attack it says is targeting Iran's nuclear and military facilities. So far it has killed at least 224 people in the Islamic republic, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. Iran has retaliated with barrages of drone and missiles that have killed at least 24 people in Israel, according to the latest figures from the prime minister's office. Iran does not recognise Israel and has long accused it of carrying out sabotage operations against its nuclear facilities, as well as assassinating its scientists.
Telegraph
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Iran ‘arrests dozens of Israeli spies'
Iran said it had arrested dozens of alleged spies and saboteurs linked to Israel since Benjamin Netanyahu ordered strikes on its nuclear and military facilities. Tehran, facing its worst security breach since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, reportedly detained 14 individuals in southern Iran on Saturday for their alleged ties to Israel and involvement in 'terror attacks'. Two alleged Mossad agents were also arrested in the Tehran province in separate operations, according to Iran's state media. They were allegedly found with 200kg of explosives and equipment for 32 drones and launchers. Iranian authorities said they were part of a wider plot by Israel's intelligence agency to create unrest within Iran. Iranian police said two more men, believed to be linked to Mossad, were also arrested in Alborz province to the west of Tehran. The suspects were allegedly operating from a safe house where they were building bombs and booby traps. Five people were also arrested for allegedly coordinating with Israeli entities in the Yazd province in central Iran over the weekend. The wave of arrests comes as Israel ordered an evacuation for parts of Tehran ahead of an expected escalation in its aerial campaign against the Iranian capital. Israeli leaders had warned that Tehran's residents would 'pay the price' for the third night of missile strikes on Israeli cities, which have so far killed at least 24 people and wounded more than 500. In Israel's strikes on nuclear sites and military personnel on Friday, Mossad agents launched drone attacks from within Iran, disabling anti-aircraft weapons and assassinating much of the top Iranian military command. The agents had sneaked into the country and set up a factory to build the explosive drones used to cripple Tehran's air defences ahead of Friday's strikes, intelligence officials said. The operation, in which vehicles carrying weapons systems were also smuggled into Iran, would have been years in the making, a security official told The Times of Israel. By destroying Iran's key air defences, the drones gave Israeli planes the freedom to carry out Friday's strikes, which killed several top generals and hit about 100 targets including nuclear and military facilities. Since then, alleged Israeli agents have been continuing to attempt 'acts of sabotage' around the country, using small drones carrying explosives, according to Iranian state media. Iran executed a man accused of spying for Mossad, state media said. Ten months ago, the notoriously sophisticated intelligence agency effectively crippled Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist organisation, in Lebanon with its use of explosive walkie-talkies. It comes as the Israeli military said that, after a wave of strikes on Monday, its forces had destroyed one third of Iran's surface-to-surface missile launchers. Israel said it had hit command centres belonging to the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in Tehran early on Monday. In response, Iran has been frantically signalling that it wants to end its escalating conflict with Israel and resume nuclear talks, according to officials.
The National
16-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Iran hangs man it claims was a Mossad spy
Iran says it has hanged a man it claims was a spy for Israel 's Mossad intelligence service. The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news website said Esmaeil Fekri was arrested in 2023 for espionage. It said he was executed after all legal procedures were completed and that the verdict was upheld by Iran's Supreme Court. 'During his collaboration with Mossad, Esmaeil Fekri attempted to provide classified and sensitive information about the country to the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran and receive a reward in return,' Mizan said on Monday. He was accused of passing to Mossad 'classified information, including sensitive locations and headquarters, information about specific individuals, organisational missions etc'. Misan said: 'In accordance with the court rulings and legal procedures, the defendant was hanged and his death sentence was carried out.' Iranian media reported on Sunday that police in Alborz province, west of Tehran, had arrested two other people suspected of links to Mossad. Later the same day, Israel said it had arrested two citizens suspected of working for Iran's intelligence services. Israel and Iran have been entangled in a shadow war for decades, but since Friday the conflict has broken into open warfare. Israel launched a surprise attack on Iranian nuclear and military facilities over fears that Tehran is seeking to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies that accusation. Iran has retaliated with barrages of drones and missiles that have killed at least 24 people in Israel, according to the latest figures from the prime minister's office on Monday. Tehran has in the past put to death many people it accuses of having links with Mossad and enabling its operations. Iran has long accused Israeli intelligence of carrying out sabotage operations against its nuclear facilities and assassinating its scientists.
