More Cities Run Dry as Iran’s Water Crisis Deepens

Water reserves in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city and one of its most important religious centers, have fallen below 3 percent of capacity, putting the city’s 4 million residents on the brink of a major water emergency.

The crisis in Mashhad is just one sign of a nationwide catastrophe , as Iran faces up to the consequences of worsening droughts, record-low rainfall and decades of mismanaged water resources. Policies that favored building new dams and drilling deep wells over maintaining infrastructure and promoting conservation have left the country facing severe water shortages.

Newsweek has contacted Iran's Foreign Ministry for comment.

Why It Matters

Mashhad, home to the Imam Reza shrine that attracts millions of pilgrims, is among several Iranian cities facing shrinking res