"A cloud seeding flight took place in the Lake Urmia basin, the first in the current hydrologic year, which began in September," Iran's official news agency IRNA reported on 15/11/2024.

Urmia is Iran's largest lake, located in the northwest of the Middle Eastern nation, but it has nearly dried up due to the drought. IRNA added that Iranian officials will conduct cloud seeding in the East and West Azerbaijan provinces.

Water levels at the Latyan dam near Tehran, Iran on 10/11/2024. *Photo: AFP*.

Cloud seeding is a technique that uses aircraft to release silver iodide into clouds, aiding in the formation of ice crystals. These ice crystals help clouds accumulate more moisture before releasing rain onto the ground. Last year, Iran announced it had developed its own technology for this technique.

Iran is facing severe drought, with more than half of its provinces experiencing no rainfall for many months, causing water levels in reservoirs to drop to record lows. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of the risk of evacuating residents from the capital Tehran if rain does not fall by the end of November.

IRNA reported that some western and northwestern provinces of Iran have received rain, but precipitation has decreased by 89% compared to the seasonal average. "We are experiencing the driest autumn in 50 years," the national meteorological agency stated.

By Nhu Tam (AFP)