HIBAPRESS
After Morocco previously resorted to using cloud seeding technology to address the lack of rainfall in recent years, it appears that the Moroccan experience is inspiring other countries, including Iran, which has announced its intention to use the same mechanism to combat the unprecedented drought affecting the country.
Iranian authorities revealed that they carried out a cloud seeding operation on Saturday, in an attempt to alleviate the drought crisis, which is considered one of the worst the country has experienced in decades. The French News Agency quoted the official "IRNA" agency as saying that the operation took place over the basin of Lake Urmia in northwestern Iran, the largest lake in the region, but which has been experiencing a sharp decline in its level since 1995 due to drought. According to the agency, Iran intends to continue these operations in the coming days in both East and West Azerbaijan provinces, relying on rain enhancement technology by seeding clouds with materials such as silver iodide. Tehran announced last year that it had developed its own version of this technology, at a time when the water crisis is worsening day by day. "IRNA" confirmed that Iran is currently experiencing “the driest autumn in 50 years,” noting that rainfall this year is 89% less than the usual average. Nevertheless, the weekend witnessed significant rainfall in a number of western and northwestern regions, where local media documented scenes of heavy rains, some of which caused limited flooding. With the beginning of this month, President Masoud Pezeshkian had sounded the alarm, warning of the possibility of evacuating the residents of Tehran if the country does not receive rain before the end of the year, a statement that the government later clarified came with the aim of alerting citizens to the sensitivity of the situation and not as an announcement of an official plan. With this step, Iran has joined the ranks of countries that rely on artificial rain enhancement technologies, the technology that Morocco has used in several stages to mitigate the effects of drought and improve rainfall rates.
