Tehran Turns Off the Tap: Iran Signals Water Restrictions as Iraq Faces Escalating Crisis.
“Most of the surface water in Iran flows toward Iraq. We must seek to control some of it and stop the outflow,” the head of natural resources in Iran’s western Ilam Province declared in an interview with the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
A looming water crisis between Iran and Iraq deepened on Sunday as a senior Iranian official openly called for controlling cross-border river flows into Iraq to prioritize domestic water needs. The statement, delivered by Yasem Khanmohammadian, head of natural resources in Iran’s western Ilam Province, signals a potential escalation in Tehran’s ongoing restriction of water supplies that feed key Iraqi provinces already battered by drought and mismanagement.
