Hundreds of Iranians gathered Friday at a mosque in northern Tehran to pray for rain as the country faces one of its most extreme droughts in decades — a crisis so severe that officials have warned the capital could face evacuation if winter arrives without significant rainfall.

At the Emamzadeh Saleh mosque, men and women assembled in separate sections in accordance with Islamic practice, reciting special prayers imploring Allah to send relief to a nation parched by historic water shortages.

Local officials say rainfall in the capital this year is the lowest in 100 years. The city’s 10 million residents now face rolling water shutoffs as the government attempts to ration dwindling supplies. Tehran consumes roughly three million cubic meters — nearly 800 million gallons — of water each day, a level that has become unsustainable as reservoirs shrink.

Tehran sits on the southern slopes of the Alborz mountains, where autumn rains and early winter snow traditionally replenish the city’s water sources. This year, the mountains remain bare and the skies dry. Of the five major dams that supply drinking water to the capital, officials say one is completely empty and another is below 8 percent capacity.

President Masoud Pezeshkian recently issued a dramatic warning: if precipitation does not arrive before winter, Tehran may face evacuation. The government later attempted to soften his remarks, saying he intended only to convey the seriousness of the crisis, not announce a concrete plan. But the message landed — Iran’s capital is in uncharted territory.

The rest of the country is not faring much better. Local media report that Iran has received only 152 millimeters — six inches — of precipitation this year, a decline of 40 percent compared to the 57-year national average.

Across Iran, farmers are struggling, reservoirs are shrinking, and water scarcity is growing more dire by the month. With climate patterns shifting and temperatures rising, experts warn the situation could deteriorate further.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)