Iran’s foreign minister said on Sunday that Tehran is no longer enriching uranium at any of its nuclear sites after Israeli and US airstrikes damaged its facilities in June, but added that the country will not give up its right to enrichment or nuclear technology.
The Energy Ministry’s atmospheric water technologies organization said the first flight of the 2024–25 water year was conducted on Saturday over northwestern Iran, where Lake Urmia – once the Middle East’s largest saltwater lake – has largely dried into a salt plain after years of drought, over-extraction and extreme heat.
Mohammad-Mehdi Javadianzadeh, who heads the state body, said a specialized aircraft equipped for cloud seeding was deployed as a suitable weather system passed over the region.
He said teams plan to conduct operations “on all incoming systems that are technically viable” and are assessing conditions over Tehran and other provinces to determine whether additional flights can be launched in the coming days.
He said the aim is to maintain continuous operational capacity in the northwest, with authorities planning to base a dedicated aircraft in Tabriz to service both East and West Azarbaijan provinces.
The program is expected to run until mid-May using both aircraft and drones. Cloud seeding, Javadianzadeh added, is internationally recognized as a cost-effective tool for atmospheric water harvesting.
“Cloud seeding has been shown to increase precipitation and is used around the world not only to enhance rainfall but also to suppress hail, disperse fog and increase hydropower reserves,” he said.
But he warned that the technology has limits and requires clear public messaging: “If the issue is not explained properly, expectations beyond the capacity of the technology or disappointment with it may emerge among society and decision-makers.”
Cloud seeding widely used, but not a cure-all
Cloud seeding is used in more than 50 countries, including the United States, China, Australia and several Middle Eastern states. Scientific reviews suggest that under favorable atmospheric conditions the process can boost precipitation by 5 to 15 percent, though results vary widely and remain difficult to measure precisely.
Iran’s neighbors – especially the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia – have expanded large-scale seeding programs, with the UAE carrying out more than 200 missions a year and investing in drone-based techniques similar to those Iran has begun deploying.
Experts say that while cloud seeding can marginally increase rainfall, it cannot compensate for decades of overuse, aquifer depletion and climate-driven aridity across the region.
Prayers for rain held nationwide
The new operations come as Iran faces what water specialists describe as a nationwide emergency. Reservoirs supplying Tehran are at or near historic lows, and authorities warn the capital could face extensive rationing if winter rains fail. Some neighborhoods have already reported intermittent cuts.
This week, cities across Iran held rain-seeking prayers as clerics urged the faithful to perform the traditional salat al-istisqa amid the worsening drought.
In Tehran, worshippers gathered at the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine in the north of the capital on Friday. Similar ceremonies were held in Mashhad, Qom and Qazvin.
Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli said the prayer is “asking for water in all forms, not just rain,” calling it a moment for repentance and unity as water shortages deepen nationwide.
Experts say Iran is experiencing “water bankruptcy,” a condition in which consumption has exceeded renewable supply after decades of over-pumping, large-scale basin transfers and agricultural expansion.
Northwestern Iran has been among the hardest-hit regions. Lake Urmia’s collapse has triggered expanding salt storms that have damaged farmland and forced some residents to leave nearby villages, according to local media and environmental researchers.
Officials say unauthorized wells and heavy irrigation remain major drivers of groundwater decline.
Meteorological officials say rainfall so far this autumn is nearly 90% below long-term averages, making it the driest season in half a century.
The event had turned the university “into a venue for inappropriate entertainment,” according to the Basij group statement. Fars reported that music with political themes had been played over images showing unveiled participants.
Tehran Design Week, which began on November 10, brought together designers presenting creative works across multiple venues in the city.
Images of women attending without the compulsory hijab had already drawn wide attention on social media, where videos shared from the event showed strong turnout from young people.
“The movement promoting moral corruption not only rejects any boundaries, but shows a clear determination to push the situation further and make it worse. This trend – with new examples emerging every day – is intolerable for the religious majority of society and will eventually lead to a social and cultural explosion,” Fars added.
Some government-aligned social media accounts criticized the festival and directed their criticism at university officials and the science minister.
The shutdown comes as Iran shows selective signs of easing social controls while deepening its political clampdown.
A Reuters analysis last week said while signs of looser social restrictions have appeared in several Iranian cities, the government has simultaneously expanded the scope of political repression – a trend that activists and some former Iranian officials say has intensified to an unprecedented degree in recent months.
At an official ceremony unveiling a new statue in Tehran’s Enghelab Square earlier in November, participants faced no mandatory hijab restrictions.
Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute, based in Washington DC, told Reuters that the strategy shows “tactical management” but the government's red lines remain firm.
The hijab, which became a central fault line after the 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, is now being enforced unevenly.
With public anger simmering and officials wary of another wave of nationwide unrest, President Masoud Pezeshkian has declined to put into effect the hardline-supported “Hijab and Chastity” law passed last year.
“That contradiction is deliberate: a release valve for the public, coupled with a hard ceiling on genuine dissent,” Vatanka added.
“There is no undeclared nuclear enrichment in Iran. All of our facilities are under the safeguards and monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in response to a question from an Associated Press journalist at a conference in Tehran.
“There is no enrichment right now because our facilities — our enrichment facilities — have been attacked,” he said.
Asked what conditions would allow talks with the United States and others to resume, Araghchi said Iran’s position remains unchanged. “Iran’s right for enrichment, for peaceful use of nuclear technology, including enrichment, is undeniable,” he said. “We would never give up our rights.”
His comments come ahead of a meeting of the IAEA’s Board of Governors this week, where a new resolution targeting Iran over its lack of cooperation could come to a vote.
European nations pushed through a measure to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran in September.
Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity — near weapons-grade — after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018. Tehran maintains its program is peaceful.
US talks with Tehran over its disputed nuclear program began earlier this year with a 60-day ultimatum. On the 61st day, June 13, Israel launched a surprise military campaign which was capped with US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear sites in Esfahan, Natanz and Fordow.
Araghchi told journalists that prospects for renewed talks remain limited under current US policy.
"The current approach of the US government does not in any way indicate a readiness for equal and fair negotiations to achieve mutual benefits," he said.
"What we have witnessed from the Americans so far has in fact been an attempt to dictate their own demands; completely maximal and excessive demands," Araghchi added.
"In the face of such demands, we do not see an opportunity for dialogue. Otherwise, we were ready for dialogue, and we always are, and we will continue to be, but we will never participate in negotiations that are intended to dictate."
