TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that the country’s capital should be relocated away from Tehran because of overcrowding and a deepening water crisis.

Pezeshkian has raised the idea of moving away from Tehran before, with rainfall in the capital this year at its lowest level for a century.

“The reality is that we have no choice. It (the relocation) is a necessity.

We cannot overwhelm this region with more population and construction,” he said, according to the official IRNA news agency.

“We can develop, but we cannot solve its water problem.” The Iranian president warned earlier this month that the current capital could be evacuated without rainfall before winter, though he did not elaborate.

Tehran nestles on the southern slopes of the Alborz mountains and has hot, dry summers usually relieved by autumn rains and winter snowfall.

The mountain peaks, usually already covered in snow at this time of year, are still dry.

Faced with water shortages, the government has decided to cut off water supplies periodically to Tehran’s 10-million-strong population to limit consumption.

Pezeshkian’s evacuation idea had drawn some criticism, including in local media. The reformist Ham Mihan newspaper branded his remarks as a “joke”.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2025