Iran’s environmental collapse fuels nationwide protests as water crisis threatens millions

Iran’s current wave of anti-government protests, the largest since 2022-2023, stems from more than just economic hardship and political repression—decades of environmental mismanagement have created ecological disasters that are driving widespread civil unrest across the country.

The scale of Iran’s environmental crisis is staggering. President Masoud Pezeshkian recently warned that Tehran residents may need to evacuate the capital as the city literally sinks due to depleted underground water sources. Lake Urmia, once among the world’s largest salt lakes, has shrunk to less than 10% of its original volume. The legendary Zayandeh River sits completely dry, while wildfires have devastated the UNESCO-protected Hyrcanian forests. In Khuzestan province, government water diversions have crippled local economies and intensified ethnic tensions among Iran’s Arab minority.

Experts say these environmental failures are inseparable from Iran’s broader political and economic crises. Since 1979, the regime has prioritized corrupt development projects over sustainability, creating what researchers call a “water mafia” within military and government circles. Hundreds of poorly planned dams and irrigation systems have left farmers unable to plant crops while tens of thousands die annually from severe pollution. The government has strategically diverted water from minority regions to Persian-majority provinces, deepening ethnic resentments and creating “environmental winners and losers.”

As one student activist group declared, “water and environmental crises” are “direct products of a corrupt and worn-out system”—a sentiment echoing across Iran as protesters demand fundamental change while facing violent government crackdowns and nationwide internet blackouts.