TEHRAN: Iranian authorities have launched cloud seeding operations to induce rainfall as the country faces its worst drought in decades, state media reported.
“Today, a cloud seeding flight was conducted in the Urmia Lake basin for the first time in the current water year,” which begins in September, the official IRNA news agency said late Saturday.
Urmia, in the northwest, is Iran’s largest lake, but has largely dried out and turned into a vast salt bed due to drought.
IRNA added that further operations would be carried out in the provinces of East and West Azerbaijan.
Cloud seeding involves spraying particles such as silver iodide and salt into clouds from aircraft to trigger rain.
Last year, Iran announced it had developed its own technology for the practice.
On Saturday, IRNA reported that rain had fallen in Ilam, Kermanshah, Kurdistan and Lorestan in the west, as well as in the northwestern West Azerbaijan province.
It quoted the country’s meteorological organization as saying rainfall had decreased by about 89 percent this year compared with the long-term average.
“We are currently experiencing the driest autumn the country has experienced in 50 years,” it added.
State media has shown footage of snow falling on the Tochal mountain and ski resort, located in the Tehran area on the Alborz range, for the first time this year.
Iran, a largely arid country, has for years suffered chronic dry spells and heat waves expected to worsen with climate change.
Rainfall in the capital Tehran has been at its lowest level in a century, according to local officials, and half of Iran’s provinces have not seen a drop of rain in months.
Water levels at reservoirs supplying many provinces have fallen to record lows.
Earlier this month, President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that without rain before winter, Tehran could face evacuation, though he did not elaborate.
Other countries in the region, including the United Arab Emirates, have also used cloud seeding to artificially produce rain.
Iran begins cloud seeding operations as severe drought bites
https://arab.news/5fuha
Iran begins cloud seeding operations as severe drought bites
- Cloud seeding involves spraying particles such as silver iodide and salt into clouds from aircraft to trigger rain
Syria’s growth accelerates as sanctions ease, refugees return
- Economy grows much faster than World Bank’s 1% estimate, fueling plans for currency’s relaunch
NEW YORK: Syria’s economy is growing much faster than the World Bank’s 1 percent estimate for 2025 as refugees flow back after the end of a 14-year civil war, fueling plans for the relaunch of the country’s currency and efforts to build a new Middle East financial hub, central bank Governor AbdulKader Husrieh has said.
Speaking via video link at a conference in New York, Husrieh also said he welcomed a deal with Visa to establish digital payment systems and added that the country is working with the International Monetary Fund to develop methods to accurately measure economic data to reflect the resurgence.
The Syrian central bank chief, who is helping guide the war-torn country’s reintegration into the global economy after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime about a year ago, described the repeal of many US sanctions against Syria as “a miracle.”
The US Treasury on Nov. 10 announced a 180-day extension of the suspension of the so-called Caesar sanctions against Syria; lifting them entirely requires approval by the US Congress.
Husrieh said that based on discussions with US lawmakers, he expects the sanctions to be repealed by the end of 2025, ending “the last episode of the sanctions.”
“Once this happens, this will give comfort to our potential correspondent banks about dealing with Syria,” he said.
Husrieh also said that Syria was working to revamp regulations aimed at combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, which he said would provide further assurances to international lenders.
Syria’s central bank has recently organized workshops with banks from the US, Turkiye, Jordan and Australia to discuss due diligence in reviewing transactions, he added.
Husrieh said that Syria is preparing to launch a new currency in eight note denominations and confirmed plans to remove two zeroes from them in a bid to restore confidence in the battered pound.
“The new currency will be a signal and symbol for this financial liberation,” Husrieh said. “We are glad that we are working with Visa and Mastercard,” Husrieh said.
