Rain hits Tehran for the first time in months amid drought
Rain has finally fallen in Iran's capital for the first time in months, as the country faces its driest autumn in over fifty years.
The dry conditions have become so severe, the president warned that the government may have to leave Tehran by the end of December if there is no significant rainfall to refill dams around the city, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Government-sponsored billboards call on the public not to use garden hoses outside to avoid waste.
Water supplies have reportedly been cut out for hours at a time in some parts of Tehran, a city home to ten million people.
Levels of snow on the nearby Alborz Mountains have remained low, with satellite pictures showing reservoirs running noticeably low - including the Latyan Dam, which is currently under 10% full.
Meteorologists have described this autumn as the driest in more than 50 years across the country, from even before its 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The country's newspaper has said: “Iran is facing an unprecedented water crisis that threatens not only its agricultural sector but also regional stability and global food markets."
Agriculture uses an estimated 90% of the country's water supplies.
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