Tehran to cut water for 12 hours to high users ignoring warnings

Tehran will implement 12-hour water supply cuts for people with excessively high consumption who disregard government warnings and text message alerts to reduce water use amid a national crisis.

According to Revolutionary Guards news agency Tasnim, the measure comes as Tehran faces water shortages due to five consecutive years of drought and a sharp drop in rainfall, posing challenges to supplying the metropolis that houses over 10% of Iran's population during the upcoming summer season.

Authorities aim to curb what they call excessive water use, particularly among the 5% of the population classified as "badly consuming" who can use up to ten times more than the average household, with the majority of these located in affluent districts of the capital.

In previous years, water cuts for such high users lasted between two and four hours during peak consumption times and only on a single day.

The extended 12-hour cuts will be enforced for those who fail to heed warnings, with the possibility of repeated cuts if consumption patterns deemed wasteful by authorities continue.

Iran’s water reserves have fallen to critical levels, accelerating the risk of shortages and forcing officials to consider rationing months before peak summer demand.

Iran’s water worries are not limited to the capital. Last week, protests over water shortages in central Iran escalated after demonstrators set fire to a key water transfer station in Isfahan province, disrupting the supply line that channels water to hundreds of thousands of Iranians in the province of Yazd.

Footage received by Iran International showed smoke rising from the pumping station early Saturday, following a rally by farmers demanding access to Zayandeh Rud water — a long-promised resource they say has been diverted elsewhere.