Iran agrees to conditionally join UN convention against terror financing

“Rainfall has dropped 40% and dam inflows 42%, leaving most of the capital’s five dams near dead storage. Only Taleghan Dam remains relatively stable,” Abbasali Mosarzadeh, CEO of Tehran’s Sewage Company cited on Tuesday as saying by official media.

“Tehran’s reserves in October fell to 258 million cubic meters, 227 million less than last year," he added. These figures were cited by Iran’s Water Resources Management Company.

The crisis extends far beyond the capital. Nationally, water reserves have fallen to alarming lows, with Iranian energy officials acknowledging that 19 of the country’s major dams are operating at below 20 percent capacity.

Independent reporting by Iran International based on satellite data showed Tehran’s Amir Kabir reservoir at roughly 6 percent of usable volume in July, with the Lar and Latyan reservoirs also at historic lows.

Groundwater depletion is worsening the picture. Research cited by Iranian geoscience institutes shows parts of Tehran sinking by more than 10 centimeters a year due to subsidence.

Agriculture, which consumes about 80 percent of the country’s water according to government and international environmental assessments, remains highly inefficient, further straining supplies.

Experts warn that without sweeping reforms in consumption and water management, Iran risks deeper shortages, environmental collapse, and growing public unrest.

Authorities confirmed this week that the MamlouDam, one of five major reservoirs supplying the capital, has fallen below usable levels.

Only 8% of its 250 million cubic meter capacity remains, with storage at 19 million cubic meters -- below the “dead volume” threshold of 28 million.

The facility, built in 2007 east of Tehran, is officially out of operation for the first time, leaving the capital more reliant on other reservoirs already at historic lows.

• 

  Wells of denial: why Iran's water crisis isn't just about drought

• 

  Drought and bad policy turn Iran’s largest lake into a salt desert

The crisis extends far beyond Tehran. In northwestern Iran, Lake Urmia, once the Middle East’s largest saltwater lake, has lost more than 90% of its volume and surface area.

Environmental experts warned on Wednesday that “salt storms” from the dried lakebed are beginning to hit surrounding provinces, damaging crops, raising health risks, and prompting what officials describe as the early stages of forced relocations from nearby towns and villages.

Lawmakers acknowledge that years of mismanaged agriculture, unchecked groundwater pumping and weak enforcement of water-use reforms have accelerated the decline.

“The lake is like a critical patient in intensive care,” said Reza Hajikarim, head of Iran’s Water Industry Federation, warning that existing plans were not implemented to save the lake. He urged rapid cuts in water-intensive farming and enforcement of ecological water rights, saying “we do not need new solutions, only execution of the old ones.”

“Salt storms from Lake Urmia have now begun, and evacuations are starting in provinces surrounding the lake. The salt storms and rising temperatures caused by the sun’s reflection are among the consequences of Urmia’s desiccation, undermining life and habitability in the region. This is only the beginning,” he added.

• 

  Iran's only navigable river at risk of drought, experts warn

• 

  Iran says water crisis worsening, Tehran land subsidence looms

Social strains are mounting. In recent weeks, a violent clash over irrigation rights near Urmia left one dead and 13 injured, highlighting how scarcity is fueling local disputes.

Similar unrest erupted earlier this year in central Iran, where farmers damaged a pipeline transferring water from Isfahan to Yazd. Rights groups say protests over blackouts and dry taps in cities such as Sabzevar were also met with arrests and tear gas.

Experts stress the problems are largely man-made. Climatologist Nasser Karami has described the situation as an “engineered drought,” arguing that mismanagement, subsidies for water-intensive crops, and expansion of militarized agriculture -- not climate alone -- lie at the root.

• 

  Iran’s water crisis is real but man-made, climatologist argues

• 

  Iran’s thirst for agricultural expansion drains water reserves

Agriculture consumes over 85% of Iran’s water while contributing less than 12% of GDP, and exports such as pistachios and melons remain state priorities despite groundwater depletion.

Other ecosystems are also under threat. Officials warn that Anzali Wetland on the Caspian coast faces collapse without $300 million in restoration funds, after decades of sewage, sediment and pollution inflows.

Iran’s Meteorological Organization says the country has endured two decades of near-continuous drought, but specialists argue that structural reforms -- diverting water from agriculture to households, modernizing irrigation, reducing waste, and enforcing groundwater limits -- could stabilize supplies.

Health Ministry officials have repeatedly pledged to secure strategic medicines, but suppliers say the central bank’s slow allocation of funds, coupled with sanctions-related banking hurdles, has left companies months behind in receiving payments, Tasnim reported on Wednesday.

From $3.5 billion in promised annual funds for pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, only about $3 billion is expected to materialize this year, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

“We may face shortages in coming months, and even need to seek antibiotics in winter,” said its drug chief, Akbar Abdollahi-Asl.

Industry representatives added that while Iran produces about 72% of its active pharmaceutical ingredients domestically, just $100 million in timely foreign currency allocations could cover most raw material needs. Importers urged urgent state support to prevent shortages, warning that patients could bear the brunt of the delays.

Tarahomi, head of legal affairs at the Anti-Narcotics Headquarters, told state media that speculation about legalizing poppy cultivation was misplaced. “What is under consideration is licensing controlled cultivation of certain poppy species such as Papaver bracteatum -- also known as the Iranian poppy -- for medical use, not opium poppy,” he said.

He explained that Iran had voluntarily halted poppy farming after the 1979 revolution, meeting pharmaceutical needs through seizures and imports. But declining production in Afghanistan has forced Tehran to consider limited licensed cultivation for morphine and related medicines under international conventions.

Tarahomi said licensed crops would be grown only on enclosed land with state purchase and factory processing, leaving no possibility of diversion. By contrast, he warned, illegal growers would face escalating penalties: “The first time a fine, the second time a fine and prison, and from the third time onward, fine, prison and confiscation of agricultural land.”

Officials have previously reported a sharp fall in opium seizures and rising concerns over illegal cultivation in some provinces, with authorities destroying thousands of hectares of illicit fields.

“Today, the Council agreed to reimpose a number of restrictive measures in relation to Iran's nuclear proliferation activities, that had then been suspended with the entry into force of the Joint Plan of Action (JCPOA or Iran nuclear deal) in 2015,” the Council of the EU said in a press release.

The decision followed the reintroduction of UN sanctions after the Security Council declined to extend relief, triggered on August 28 when France, Germany and the United Kingdom (the E3) said Iran was in “significant non-performance” of its commitments.

The Council said the measures include both UN Security Council sanctions adopted since 2006 and EU autonomous measures. They cover:

- Travel bans and asset freezes for listed individuals and entities, and a prohibition on providing funds or economic resources.

- Economic and financial sanctions, spanning trade, banking and transport.

- Trade restrictions, including bans on imports and transport of Iranian crude oil, natural gas, petrochemical and petroleum products; the sale of energy equipment, gold, precious metals, diamonds, certain naval equipment and software.

- Financial sector measures, including freezing assets of the Central Bank of Iran and major commercial banks.

- Transport restrictions, reinstating measures to bar Iranian cargo flights from EU airports and prohibit maintenance or servicing of Iranian cargo aircraft or vessels carrying prohibited materials.

The Council stressed these steps followed earlier commitments. “In October 2015 the Council adopted declaration 2015/C 345/01 lifting all EU nuclear-related sanctions in accordance with the JCPOA and stressing that the EU would reintroduce sanctions in case of significant non-performance by Iran,” it said.

• 

  E3 says Iran left no choice but to reimpose UN sanctions

E3 says Iran left no choice

On Sunday, the E3 foreign ministers said Tehran’s breaches had left no alternative. “We welcome the re-instatement since 20:00 EDT on 27 September of Resolutions 1696, 1737, 1747, 1803, 1835, and 1929 after completion of the snapback process,” they said. “We urge Iran and all states to abide fully by these resolutions.”

The ministers accused Iran of “exceeding all limits on its nuclear program” since 2019, noting it held enriched uranium “48 times the JCPOA limit” and at least 10 significant quantities of highly enriched uranium outside of monitoring. “Iran has no credible civilian justification whatsoever for its HEU stockpile,” they said.

They insisted diplomacy remained possible. “The reimposition of UN sanctions is not the end of diplomacy. We urge Iran to refrain from any escalatory action and to return to compliance with its legally binding safeguards obligations.”

• 

  Tehran says no obligation to comply with revived UN resolutions

Tehran says no obligation to comply

Iran rejected the move outright. “The Islamic Republic of Iran rejects the claim of the three European countries and the United States regarding the return of previous resolutions that ended under Resolution 2231 in 2015, and emphasizes that no obligation is created for UN member states, including Iran,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

It added: “Any attempt to revive terminated resolutions is legally baseless, morally unacceptable and logically flawed.”

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi separately wrote to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Security Council President Sang Jin Kim, saying the alleged return of sanctions was “null and void.”

He urged them “to prevent any attempt to revive the sanctions mechanisms, including the Sanctions Committee and the Panel of Experts.”

Araghchi accused the Europeans of “defaulting on their commitments, misusing the JCPOA dispute settlement process, and even justifying military attacks against safeguarded nuclear facilities in Iran.”

Tehran said all nuclear-related restrictions under Resolution 2231 must expire on October 18, 2025. “Iran will not recognize any effort to extend, revive or enforce them after that,” the ministry said.