Former Iranian Vice President Warns Water Mismanagement Threatens 7,000-Year-Old Civilization

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Mismanagement of water resources poses a grave threat to Iran’s 7,000-year-old civilization, according to Isa Kalantari, former head of the Iranian Department of Environment and former Vice President of Iran.

In an interview with Iran’s Didban news agency, Kalantari sharply criticized the country’s water policies, blaming weak governance, political interference, and poor planning for the crisis.

"Drying rivers and building dams are not solutions," he warned, accusing consultants, contractors, and policymakers of pursuing self-interest rather than national priorities. “This situation arises from the weakness of our water policies, which often prioritize their personal gains over the future of the country.”

Iran Declared a “Water-Poor” Nation

Kalantari noted that Iran has long struggled with water scarcity, but population growth has worsened the crisis. “When our population was 50 million, we were already water-scarce. Now, with nearly 100 million people, Iran is officially a water-poor country,” he said.

He stressed that decades of warnings have gone unheeded: “For more than 30 years I have been warning that Iran is a water-scarce nation, but leaders continue to repeat outdated policies.”

Ministry of Energy Under Fire

Kalantari placed responsibility squarely on the Ministry of Energy, which has held full authority over water management since the 1982 Fair Water Distribution Act. “For over four decades, 100 percent of water oversight has been under the Ministry of Energy. Its ministers, especially in the past 30 years, must be held accountable,” he said.

Instead of focusing on conservation, he argued, the ministry has prioritized production and consumption. The result is an alarming imbalance: while only 20 billion cubic meters of groundwater are replenished annually, more than 42 billion cubic meters are extracted, pushing reserves toward exhaustion.

Political Pressure and the Neglect of Dialogue

Kalantari said successive governments and parliamentarians have fueled the crisis by pushing for more water projects rather than dialogue. “Protecting water resources has been completely overlooked, despite it being a legal responsibility,” he added.

The consequences are already visible in declining groundwater levels, dried-up rivers, and widespread land subsidence.

Agricultural Policy “One-Fifth of the Global Standard”

Kalantari also called for a fundamental overhaul of Iran’s agricultural policies, describing them as highly inefficient. “Globally, sustainable farming produces 80 percent of crops. The other 20 percent, produced through irrigation, generates $1.5 in crops per cubic meter of water. Iran’s yields are only one-fifth of that global benchmark,” he said.

He also criticized the government for threatening citizens over excessive water consumption while failing to address its own shortcomings. “Why is the ministry not held accountable for wasting 300 million cubic meters of water annually in Tehran through faulty pipes?”

A Call for Radical Reform

Kalantari concluded with a warning that without sweeping reforms in both water and agricultural management, Iran’s ancient civilization faces an existential threat. “If we want to protect our country, we must radically review our water policies and make serious changes to our agriculture,” he urged.