Iran’s Severe Water Crisis

The World Resources Institute (WRI) reports, “After five consecutive years of drought and years of unsustainable water use, Iran is moving toward what experts call ‘water bankruptcy’” (March 20, 2026). While fighting a war with Israel and the United States will only make matters worse, the nation’s water woes are not due to the war but rather “a naturally arid climate with limited water supply and years of unsustainable water management.” According to the WRI, even before the war, the extreme lack of water had damaged the nation’s ability to produce food and electrical power, resulting in outages, and in 2018 it caused the displacement of approximately 16 million people. While Iran has invested in desalinization plants and pipelines, the financial costs are extremely high and environmental costs are yet to be determined, and such resources have become tempting wartime infrastructure targets.

Iran’s situation has contributed to tensions with its neighbors and within its borders. Leaders of Iran have accused Afghanistan of restricting the flow of the Helmand River into Iran through dam construction. Protests concerning the water crisis have involved a number of deaths, with some reports claiming security forces have used live ammunition to disperse demonstrators (Reuters, July 17, 2021). As the Atlantic Council published in 2023, “The water wars have no end in sight.”

In the years just ahead, wars over resources of all kinds, including food and water, will enter a more ominous phase. Bible prophecies clearly indicate that deadly conflicts over vital resources will become a significant factor in international relations as the end of the age approaches. You can learn more by reading or listening to “Coming: Resource Wars!”