Latest news with #Mohajerani
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a day ago
- Climate
- First Post
Why Iran has been forced to declare a holiday and import water
Iran is boiling with 18 out of 31 provinces across the country including Tehran witnessing extreme temperatures. Much of the country has seen water and electricity supply disrupted. The development comes in the backdrop of water levels in the reservoirs dropping to their lowest levels in nearly 100 years read more A man crosses an intersection on a hot summer day in downtown Tehran, Iran. AP The Islamic Republic is witnessing temperatures soaring across the country. It is importing water to meet the citizens and has been forced to declare a holiday. But what happened? What do we know? And why is this happening? Let's take a closer look What happened? Eighteen out of 31 provinces across the country including Tehran are witnessing extreme temperatures. Temperatures in the southern and northern part of the country have exceeded 50 degrees Celsius. The city of Shabankareh over the weekend recorded a temperature of 52.8 degrees Celsius. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This could be the hottest temperature of the year. Meanwhile, the town of Abadan, which is on Iran's southwestern border, saw a temperature of 51.6 degrees Celsius. Ahwaz, which is near Abadan, saw a temperature of 50.3 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, Tehran for the first time this year saw a temperature of over 40 degrees Celsius. Government offices in nearly a dozen provinces including the capital have been urged to conserve water. The heatwave, which began last Friday, is slated to slowly dissipate starting Thursday. Much of the country has seen water and electricity supply disrupted. The development comes in the backdrop of water levels in the reservoirs dropping to their lowest levels in nearly 100 years. Tehran's Provincial Water Supply Company has said that the water levels in reservoirs are at their lowest level in nearly a century. The firm urged residents to cut their water use by 20 per cent. According to a newspaper, Tehran on Sunday saw 'water outages lasting between 12 and 18 hours' in some areas. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Iran is negotiating with several countries including Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to import water. AFP Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani took to X to announce that a holiday has been declared on Wednesday in Tehran province. 'In light of the continued extreme heat and the necessity of conserving water and electricity, Wednesday … has been declared a holiday in Tehran province,' she wrote. Mohajerani urged Iranians to have a 'rest, a short trip, or being with family, of course, while observing safety guidelines and conserving energy'. Iran's Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi on Sunday apologised for the water shortages. Aliabadi last week said Iran is negotiating with several countries including Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to import water. Meanwhile, citizens are suffering. 'I feel the skin is going to burn. [My] shirt gets wet so quickly and I prefer to take shower twice a day at this age amidst severe heat. Thank God, there is no water crisis where I live', one resident of Tehran, who is his 50s, told The Guardian. 'I have heard from people that cutting water supply has resulted in water outages lasting at least 12 hours and more', he added. 'It feels more than 45 degrees Celsius. It is so hot'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'We have nine-hour load-shedding daily as the temperature has soared across Iran including my home town,' a man living in Mashhad added. 'The water crisis is one of the biggest issues. Our dams are becoming dry and water reservoirs are depleting so fast.' Why is this happening? Iran has been facing drought-like conditions for the past five years. This, combined with record-low rainfall, has left its dams at the lowest levels in decades. The World Resources Institute ranks Iran at number 14 in the world when it comes to baseline water stress. Experts think a potential 'day zero', when Iran completely runs out of water, could come sooner rather than later. Experts say climate change is making water scarcity worse. Iran has long since battled issues with water and electricity. They also point the finger at authorities, who they are mismanaging and overexploiting resources. This is particularly true of Iran's capital Tehran where groundwater levels have depleted by 12 metres over the past two decades. Tehran has lost an estimated 25 per cent of its water due to mismanagement. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Things are so dire that the is even said to be mulling whether to shift the capital to Makhran region in the country's south. Tehran has lost an estimated 25 per cent of its water due to mismanagement. AP Iran's leaders are also worried. 'The water crisis is more serious than what is being talked about,' President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday. Pezeshkian has called for a joint task force comprising government experts and academics to be established to examine the issue. Pezeshkian said Iran will 'face a situation in the future for which no solution can be found' if nothing is done. 'Measures such as transferring water from other places to Tehran will not solve the problem fundamentally,' he added. 'In the water sector, beyond management and planning, we also need to address excessive consumption.' With inputs from agencies
Shafaq News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iran signals readiness to boost defense budget
Shafaq News – Tehran/Shanghai Iran will increase its defense spending if necessary, Government Spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Monday, amid ongoing tensions with Israel and heightened regional security concerns. During a press conference in Tehran, Mohajerani stated that the country is 'on the verge of a new chapter of hope and movement toward a safer, calmer, and stronger Iran,' emphasizing a continued focus on national stability and strength. She underscored the government's stance, that 'the window for diplomacy is open, and the peaceful path in foreign policy is being pursued seriously.' While reaffirming Iran's rejection of war, Mohajerani warned that the country would not yield to pressure. 'We do not seek war at all,' she said. 'But we will not surrender to injustice, and we will not give in.' Addressing concerns over damage to nuclear facilities following the recent conflict with Israel, she explained that the assessment process remains ongoing. On digital policy, Mohajerani highlighted the government's commitment to open internet access, explaining that during the latest Israeli hostilities, several drones targeting civilians had been controlled online. As a result, the government temporarily shifted to the national internet system to protect public safety. 'Of course, you witnessed our return to full access afterward,' she added. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the 25th ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). In his address to the conference, Araghchi called for the establishment of a permanent mechanism to monitor, document, and coordinate responses to military aggression, sabotage, state-sponsored terrorism, and violations of the national sovereignty of SCO member states.
Shafaq News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iran: Diplomatic window remains open, path is serious
Shafaq News – Tehran/Shanghai Iran will raise its defense budget if necessary, Government Spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani announced on Monday. During a press conference in Tehran, Mohajerani stated that the country is 'on the verge of a new chapter of hope and movement toward a safer, calmer, and stronger Iran,' emphasizing a continued focus on national stability and strength. She underscored the government's stance, that 'the window for diplomacy is open, and the peaceful path in foreign policy is being pursued seriously.' While reaffirming Iran's rejection of war, Mohajerani warned that the country would not yield to pressure. 'We do not seek war at all,' she said. 'But we will not surrender to injustice, and we will not give in.' Addressing concerns over damage to nuclear facilities following the recent conflict with Israel, she explained that the assessment process remains ongoing. On digital policy, Mohajerani highlighted the government's commitment to open internet access, explaining that during the latest Israeli hostilities, several drones targeting civilians had been controlled online. As a result, the government temporarily shifted to the national internet system to protect public safety. 'Of course, you witnessed our return to full access afterward,' she added. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the 25th ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). In his address to the conference, Araghchi called for the establishment of a permanent mechanism to monitor, document, and coordinate responses to military aggression, sabotage, state-sponsored terrorism, and violations of the national sovereignty of SCO member states.
Japan Today
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Iran assesses damage and lashes out after Israeli and U.S. strikes damage its nuclear sites
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows overview of Fordo enrichment facility in Iran, on June 29, 2025. (Maxar Technologies via AP) By JON GAMBRELL Iran is assessing the damage and lashing out over the American and Israeli airstrikes on its nuclear sites, though Tehran kept open the possibility Tuesday of resuming talks with the Washington over its atomic program. The comments by government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani also included another acknowledgment that the American strikes at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz — key sites within Iran's program — had been 'seriously damaged' by the bombing. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted Mohajerani as making the remarks at a briefing for journalists. That acknowledgment comes as Iran's theocracy has slowly begun to admit the scale of the damage wrought by the 12-day war with Israel, which saw Israeli fighter jets decimate the country's air defenses and conduct strikes at will over the Islamic Republic. And keeping the door open to talks with the United States likely shows Tehran wants to avoid further economic pain as another deadline over U.N. sanctions loom. "No date (for U.S. talks) is announced, and it's not probably very soon, but a decision hasn't been made in this field,' Mohajerani said. Israeli airstrikes, which began June 13, decimated the upper ranks of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard and targeted its arsenal of ballistic missiles. The strikes also hit Iran's nuclear sites, which Israel claimed put Tehran within reach of a nuclear weapon. U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. On Monday, Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir offered a sharply increased, government-issued death toll from the war. He said that the Israeli attacks killed 935 'Iranian citizens,' including 38 children and 102 women, IRNA reported. 'The enemy aimed to change the country's circumstances by assassinating military commanders and scientists, intending to spread fear and exert pressure," Jahangir added. However, he asserted — like others up to 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — that Iran had 'won' the war. Iran has a long history of offering lower death counts around unrest over political considerations. The Washington-based Human Rights Activists group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from multiple rounds of unrest in Iran, has put the death toll at 1,190 people killed, including 436 civilians and 435 security force members. The attacks wounded another 4,475 people, the group said. Meanwhile, it appears that Iranian officials now are assessing the damage done by the American strikes conducted on the three nuclear sites on June 22, namely those at Fordo, a site built under a mountain about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tehran. Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show Iranian officials at Fordo on Monday likely examining the damage caused by American bunker busters. Trucks could be seen in the images, as well as at least one crane and an excavator at tunnels on the site. That corresponded to images shot Sunday by Maxar Technologies similarly showing the ongoing work. The tunnels likely had been filled in by Iran before the strikes to protect the facility. The presence of trucks before the attacks has raised questions about whether any enriched uranium or centrifuges had been spirited away before the attack, something repeatedly claimed by Iranian officials. Even before the strikes, the IAEA warned that its inspectors had lost their 'continuity of knowledge' regarding the program, meaning material could be at undeclared sites in the country. Iran hasn't said what work is ongoing at the sites, though it has said that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran planned to issue a report about the damage done by the strikes. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, whose profile sharply rose during the war, also has kept open the possibility of talks with the U.S. However, hard-liners within Iran are increasingly criticizing any effort at negotiations or cooperation with the West. Iran's hard-line Kayhan newspaper, in a piece written by its Khamenei-appointed managing editor Hossein Shariatmadari, mocked any possible talks Tuesday by saying being a 'traitor or stupid are two sides of the same coin.' Shariatmadari's newspaper on Saturday also suggested that the IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi, should be 'tried and executed' if he visited Iran — something that drew immediate criticism from European nations and others. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Los Angeles Times
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Iran assesses the damage and lashes out after Israeli and U.S. strikes damage its nuclear sites
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran is assessing the damage and lashing out over the American and Israeli airstrikes on its nuclear sites, though Tehran kept open the possibility Tuesday of resuming talks with Washington over its atomic program. The comments by government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani also included another acknowledgment that Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz — key sites within Iran's nuclear program — had been 'seriously damaged' by the American strikes. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted Mohajerani as making the remarks at a briefing for journalists. That acknowledgment comes as Iran's theocracy has slowly begun to admit the scale of the damage wrought by the 12-day war with Israel, which saw Israeli fighter jets decimate the country's air defenses and conduct strikes at will over the Islamic Republic. And keeping the door open to talks with the United States likely shows Tehran wants to avoid further economic pain as another deadline over U.N. sanctions looms. 'No date [for U.S. talks] is announced, and it's not probably very soon, but a decision hasn't been made in this field,' Mohajerani said. Israeli airstrikes, which began June 13, decimated the upper ranks of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard and targeted its arsenal of ballistic missiles. The strikes also hit Iran's nuclear sites, which Israel claimed put Tehran within reach of a nuclear weapon. U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. On Monday, Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir offered a sharply increased, government-issued death toll from the war. He said that the Israeli attacks killed 935 'Iranian citizens,' including 38 children and 102 women, IRNA reported. 'The enemy aimed to change the country's circumstances by assassinating military commanders and scientists, intending to spread fear and exert pressure,' Jahangir added. However, he asserted — like others up to 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — that Iran had 'won' the war. Iran has a long history of offering lower death counts around unrest over political considerations. The Washington-based Human Rights Activists group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from multiple rounds of unrest in Iran, has put the death toll at 1,190 people killed, including 436 civilians and 435 security force members. The attacks wounded another 4,475 people, the group said. Meanwhile, it appears that Iranian officials now are assessing the damage done by the American strikes conducted on the three nuclear sites on June 22, including those at Fordo, a site built under a mountain about 60 miles southwest of Tehran. Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by the Associated Press show Iranian officials at Fordo on Monday likely examining the damage caused by American bunker busters. Trucks could be seen in the images, as well as at least one crane and an excavator at tunnels on the site. That corresponded to images shot Sunday by Maxar Technologies similarly showing the ongoing work. The tunnels likely had been filled in by Iran before the strikes to protect the facility. The presence of trucks before the attacks has raised questions about whether any enriched uranium or centrifuges had been spirited away before the attack, something repeatedly claimed by Iranian officials. Even before the strikes, the IAEA warned that its inspectors had lost their 'continuity of knowledge' regarding the program, meaning material could be at undeclared sites in the country. Iran hasn't said what work is being done at the sites, though it has said that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran planned to issue a report about the damage done by the strikes. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, whose profile sharply rose during the war, also has kept open the possibility of talks with the U.S. However, hard-liners within Iran are increasingly criticizing any effort at negotiations or cooperation with the West. Iran's hard-line Kayhan newspaper, in a piece written by its Khamenei-appointed managing editor, Hossein Shariatmadari, mocked any possible talks Tuesday by saying being a 'traitor or stupid are two sides of the same coin.' Shariatmadari's newspaper on Saturday also suggested that the IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi, should be 'tried and executed' if he visited Iran — something that drew immediate criticism from European nations and others. Gambrell writes for the Associated Press.
