Water is the lifeblood of all civilisations. In Iran, the water is drying up. That disappearance is becoming impossible to ignore, and after decades of mismanagement, the country’s water system is approaching a breaking point. Rivers that once crossed the Iranian plateau are drying to threads; aquifers are collapsing; lakes have retreated into salt flats.
The roots of the crisis stretch from the modernisation projects of the Shah to the Islamic Republic’s own industrial ambitions: dams, steel plants, and the cultivation of water-thirsty crops, all of which aren’t ideal pursuits for a country that is largely arid. The result is a slow-moving environmental emergency now pressing into politics, daily life, and the stability of the regime itself.
Catch up on past *If You're Listening* episode's on Iran:
Who is Trump really fighting in Iran?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6NZOvMVl6I
Trump thinks he can switch off the Iran War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irsF1W3StWk
Who was Ayatollah Khomeini?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzEp-Vr4Oao
Who was The Shah?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOsdbCwS5qQ
How America created Iran’s nuclear program
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WygeZt9F__Y
Explained: Iran's bizarre attacks on Australia & Sweden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBTB5WXCE70
Watch all episodes of If You're Listening - in our playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
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