{"id":335549,"date":"2025-08-13T22:21:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T21:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=335549"},"modified":"2025-08-13T22:21:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T21:21:25","slug":"why-iran-is-running-out-of-water-power-and-patience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/economy\/why-iran-is-running-out-of-water-power-and-patience\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Iran Is Running Out of Water, Power \u2014 and Patience"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Outraged
Outraged by the state-sanctioned drying of the Zayandeh Rud River, tens of thousands of Isfahan residents gathered on its parched bed to protest on November 19, 2021<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ten-minute read<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n

Iran is facing an escalating water and electricity crisis decades in the making. Despite having vast oil, gas, and water resources in certain regions, chronic mismanagement under the clerical regime has left rivers dry, aquifers depleted, power plants decaying, and blackouts routine. Today, over half of Iran\u2019s dams hold less than 40% capacity<\/a>, while rolling electricity outages disrupt daily life and industry.<\/p>\n

This report examines how regime policies\u2014from aggressive dam construction and overuse of groundwater to neglect of energy infrastructure\u2014have compounded environmental pressures into today\u2019s emergency. It analyzes the role of the IRGC \u201cwater mafia<\/a>\u201d, the prioritization of self-serving projects like cryptocurrency mining and water-hungry heavy industries, and the resulting socioeconomic fallout. It also explores environmental and geopolitical factors, the government\u2019s inadequate responses, and how water and power shortages are driving unprecedented public dissent across Iran.<\/p>\n

Origins of Water Mismanagement and Dam Overdevelopment<\/h2>\n

In the 1980s and 1990s, the clerical rulers pursued a massive program of dam building and agricultural expansion under the banner of self-sufficiency. After the Iran\u2013Iraq War (1980\u201388) left the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) without a clear military purpose, President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani\u2019s \u201creconstruction jihad\u201d integrated the Guards into the national economy to preserve their influence and morale.<\/p>\n

In 1992, the IRGC created its dam-construction arm, Sepasad, under the Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters. Over the next decades, Iran built hundreds of dams\u2014ranking third globally<\/a>\u2014often without environmental assessments or long-term planning. Projects were driven more by political motives and profit than sustainable water management<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Why Is #Iran<\/a> Regime Hiding Information on Dams? https:\/\/t.co\/eM5JUrmytx<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/HcSIE8mqUG<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) October 31, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n