Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, has issued stark warnings about Tehran’s dire environmental situation, suggesting the city might have to be evacuated or the capital relocated entirely.
The crisis is driven primarily by a severe, multi-year drought and poor resource management.
Water Crisis and Potential Evacuation
Pezeshkian has warned that if a significant amount of rain does not fall soon (before December 2025), water rationing will begin in Tehran.
Iran’s capital city, Tehran is facing a dire drought situation and has been given a warning from its president that without rainfall soon, https://t.co/dpJGAPA14d#DialoguePakistan #Tehran #Residents #Leave #City #Drought #Worsens pic.twitter.com/kQIU1U5LH9
— Dialogue Pakistan (@DialoguePak) November 13, 2025
He stated that even with rationing, if the drought persists, the water reserves will be completely depleted, and the city of over 10 million people may have to be evacuated.
Iran is experiencing one of its worst droughts in decades, with rainfall in 2025 estimated to be 50-60% below average.
Dams supplying Tehran are at historically low levels, with the main Amir Kabir dam reported to be only 8% full.
Water authority officials have warned that without rain, the remaining dam reserves could sustain the city for only a couple of weeks.
Separate from the immediate evacuation warning, Pezeshkian has also renewed long-standing calls to permanently move Iran’s capital from Tehran to the southern part of the country, closer to the Persian Gulf.
Besides the water crisis, Tehran suffers from severe air pollution, land subsidence (sinking by up to 30cm per year in some areas), and the risk of a major earthquake due to active fault lines.
The President argues that moving the capital closer to the sea would streamline economic operations, as it is inefficient to transport raw materials from the south to Tehran for processing and then back for export.
The idea of moving the capital has been discussed by several previous administrations but has never been implemented due to immense financial costs and logistical complexities.
Pezeshkian has suggested the government would have to move first to set an example for residents to follow.
