An Iranian water official said the volume of drinking water stored in Tehran’s five main dams has fallen to about 170 million cubic meters, roughly half the level recorded at this time last year.
Rama Habibi, a deputy at the Tehran Regional Water Company, told ISNA that the capital is experiencing its most persistent dry spell in six decades.
“For the first time in 60 years, we have had five consecutive years of drought,” he said.
Habibi added that rainfall since the start of the current water year in early October has been “very minimal.” He said Tehran recorded 48 millimeters of rain in the same period last year, compared with just 1.9 millimeters this year.
“We are facing a 96 percent reduction in rainfall compared with last year,” he said, adding that long-term averages also show a drop of nearly 98 percent.
Drought reshapes dam operations
The prolonged dry period has pushed reservoir levels across Iran to historic lows. The country’s Karkheh Dam hydroelectric plant was forced to halt power generation last week due to the shrinking water level in its reservoir.
Officials said the dam’s basin has endured years of drought, with water now flowing only through lower outlets to meet downstream needs.
Karkheh, one of the region’s largest dams, is among many facilities confronting shortages. Domestic media say reservoirs feeding Tehran’s Karaj and Latian dams have fallen sharply, and cities such as Mashhad, Kerman and Yazd are grappling with collapsing aquifers and, in some cases, water rationing.
Habibi said that in past years, rainfall returned to normal after short dry spells, but the current prolonged drought means “the outflow from the dams exceeds the inflow,” pushing storage to what he called alarmingly low levels. Long-term data indicate average storage of about 509 million cubic meters, leaving the current figure at roughly one-third of that amount, he said.
Warnings of broader strain
Authorities in several provinces warn that diminishing reserves could bring deeper disruptions if dry conditions persist. In Mashhad, officials have already moved to full rationing, while parts of Kerman report abandoned farmland due to groundwater depletion. Nationwide, rainfall has dropped to around 18 percent of normal levels, with 20 provinces reporting no measurable precipitation in recent weeks.
Water specialists quoted by local media say that if current patterns continue, significant parts of Tehran could face severe supply instability within the next decade.
“I prefer to leave my artistic work for a day when the Islamic Republic no longer exists in my country,” she said.
Embarking on a farewell tour, she framed her decision within the wider social shifts unfolding in Iran, particularly the growing rejection of the compulsory hijab and the generational frustration she believes now defines the country.
“We are seeing our youth, especially women, fighting for their most basic rights,” she said, describing a society confronting economic strain, political repression and demands for ordinary freedoms.
Defiance of compulsory veiling is now widespread in Iran as women and girls appear in public without headscarves in one of the most visible social shifts since Mahsa Amini’s death in 2022.
The pressures facing a new generation, Googoosh said, have accelerated her own sense of responsibility as an artist.
“People in my country are struggling to give their families an ordinary life. They struggle for clean water, clean air, and land where they can live. Our young people grew old without ever enjoying their youth. Our people must end this painful cycle and gain the freedoms every human being deserves.”
Iran’s rulers have long relied on strict hijab enforcement by police and Basij forces. The current situation comes amid persistent power cuts, water shortages and a weakened economy, all of which risk fueling further anger.
A life shaped by stardom and silence
Born Faegheh Atashin, she entered the spotlight as a child performer and quickly became one of pre-revolution Iran’s most recognizable cultural figures. Her look, voice and stage presence shaped an entire era of Iranian pop culture.
After the 1979 revolution, she remained in Iran and spent two decades barred from performing under the new theocracy, facing surveillance, harassment and a period of imprisonment. When authorities finally allowed her to leave in 2000, she resumed her career abroad, launching a revival that connected her with Iranians who had long been cut off from her music.
“After the revolution, the pressure on me grew,” Googoosh said. “Since Farsi is my mother tongue and I grew up in Iran, I could not adjust to living outside my country. I did not want that life. I hoped I could somehow continue performing for my own people, inside my own country.”