Three-minute read
As Iran enters the peak of summer, its citizens are facing a mounting crisis of power outages, severe water shortages, and extreme heat. Yet, instead of addressing the roots of this escalating emergency, the Iranian regime continues to deflect blame, offering cosmetic measures and empty reassurances. The result is growing public anger and a deepening humanitarian crisis.
Government Announces Public Holiday to “Save Electricity”
On Sunday, July 20, state-run Tasnim News Agency announced that Wednesday, July 23, would be a public holiday in Tehran. The decision, attributed to Masoud Pezeshkian’s cabinet, was supposedly made to reduce water and electricity consumption during the current heatwave. Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani attempted to frame the announcement as a “chance for rest and family time”—a statement that many Iranians met with disbelief and resentment.
Nowhere in the announcement was there acknowledgment of the government’s long-term environmental mismanagement, infrastructure neglect, or systemic corruption that has contributed to this crisis. The regime’s response reflects its routine approach: cosmetic gestures instead of substantive policy change.
#IranProtests: Isfahan Farmers Clash with Security Forces Over Water Crisis, Sabotage Yazd Pipelinehttps://t.co/D6r4lE6eft
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 30, 2025
Power Cuts Trigger Public Protests and Economic Disruption
Across cities like Mashhad, Rasht, and Tehran, Iranians have taken to the streets—or, in many cases, simply voiced their despair—in response to repeated and unannounced blackouts. In Mashhad, angry business owners at the city’s Misaq prayer hall reported losing hours of work as power outages stretched beyond their usual time limits.
“Electricity has gone again—used to be off until 2 PM, now it’s past that. We feel like we’re back 40 years, using noisy generators that scare away customers. Nobody cares about us,” lamented one shop owner.
In Rasht, another resident described how blackouts early in the morning cripple essential services: “It’s Saturday, the start of the work week, and power was cut by 9:15 AM. How are we supposed to open our shops or bakeries without electricity?”
One baker, whose dough had spoiled due to a nighttime blackout, was forced to throw away large quantities of ruined bread: “This is the third time this week we’ve had outages. There’s no one to answer our complaints. We’re left to waste food and money.”
How the #Iranian Regime’s Fear of the Uprising and @Mojahedineng Signals Its Imminent Downfallhttps://t.co/qvvUKqH5p0
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) July 18, 2025
Worsening Water Crisis Across the Country
The water crisis in Iran is now undeniable, as even regime officials begin to admit the severity of the situation. Jafar Pourkabgani, an MP from Bushehr, stated that some residents receive just two hours of water every 48 hours—while dealing with 48°C temperatures and nearly 100% humidity.
Isa Bozorgzadeh, spokesperson for the Water Industry, revealed that 24 provinces are under water stress, with Tehran and Alborz—home to more than 20 million people—at the top of the list. Cities like Isfahan, Arak, Saveh, Tabriz, Baneh, and Bandar Abbas are also facing critical shortages.
The water crisis has worsened as Iran enters its fifth consecutive year of drought. The national rainfall average is down 40% from last year, and the volume of water flowing into dams has decreased by 43%. More than half of the country’s dam capacity is now empty, and some major reservoirs—such as those supplying Hormozgan province—are completely dry.
Hashem Amini, head of Iran’s Water and Sewage Company, acknowledged the dire conditions and warned that “if no urgent action is taken, there will be no solutions left in the future.”
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— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 30, 2025
Official Mismanagement and Denial
Despite overwhelming evidence, authorities continue to misattribute the crisis to “bad consumer behavior,” rather than years of policy failure. Officials blame excessive household use—even though official statistics show that only 6–10% of Iran’s water consumption is residential. The majority is used by inefficient agriculture and wasteful industrial practices, often protected by regime-connected interests.
Authorities have started cutting off water to so-called “bad consumers,” with more than 47,000 accounts in Tehran alone temporarily suspended. Yet these punitive actions ignore larger systemic issues, such as outdated infrastructure, illegal well-drilling, and unsustainable water extraction for government projects.
In response to criticism over the lack of proper metering and accountability, Bozorgzadeh admitted: “Your criticism is valid. I acknowledge this shortcoming.”
#Tehran’s Looming Water Crisis: A National Emergency Decades in the Makinghttps://t.co/t18FDZru8n
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 23, 2025
Government Opts for Heat-Induced Shutdowns
To manage the crisis superficially, the government has shortened work hours in several provinces. From July 21 to August 1, offices in provinces such as Kermanshah, Markazi, and Sistan and Baluchestan are operating from 6 AM to 11 AM only. While these reduced hours may temporarily ease energy demand, they offer no lasting solutions to the deeper crisis of infrastructure collapse.
The crisis extends beyond the cities. In West Azerbaijan, officials warned that Lake Urmia is on the brink of drying out completely. In its northern section, only a thin layer of water—just 4 to 5 centimeters deep—remains over a 100-square-kilometer area.
This environmental catastrophe is a direct result of decades of ecological mismanagement. The regime has drained rivers, built unnecessary dams, and prioritized short-term gains over sustainable development.
#IranProtests: Isfahan Farmers Demand Water Rights Amid Intensifying Crisishttps://t.co/fswuvGMJpB
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 4, 2025
A Looming National Emergency
Iran’s current trajectory—marked by deepening drought, collapsing energy infrastructure, and an unresponsive government—portends a nationwide emergency that could soon spiral out of control. With the dam reservoirs at just 46% capacity and rapidly declining, the country faces acute shortages of drinking water, electricity, and irrigation for agriculture.
Rather than confronting the root causes, the regime appears more interested in PR maneuvers and blaming ordinary citizens. As temperatures rise and resources dry up, public frustration is turning into open dissent—threatening to transform Iran’s environmental disaster into a full-blown political crisis.