The Sarab Niloufar spring, one of western Iran’s most iconic natural landmarks, has dried up, local environmental officials said, warning that years of groundwater depletion, unregulated farming and drought have destroyed the 25-meter-deep lake once covered in lotus flowers.
Located near the city of Kermanshah, Sarab Niloufar -- famous for its blue lotus flowers and migratory birds -- has turned into cracked earth after years of over-extraction of groundwater, repeated droughts, and unregulated farming, Tasnim reported on Tuesday.
Provincial authorities blamed excessive water use for crop irrigation, illegal wells, and reduced rainfall for the collapse of the lake’s ecosystem.
Soraya Ghorbani, deputy head of Kermanshah’s Department of Environment, said this week that more than half of the factors driving the crisis stem from “repeated planting of water-intensive crops and poor management of groundwater resources.”
She warned that even heavy rainfall would no longer be enough to restore the body of water due to severe shortage of its groundwater.
Experts say the drying of Sarab Niloufar mirrors a national trend of environmental decline.
A new satellite-based study shows that Iran is undergoing severe land subsidence across 106 regions covering about 31,400 square kilometers -- an area roughly the size of Belgium -- mainly due to excessive groundwater extraction for agriculture.
Iran’s water reservoirs have reached their lowest levels in decades -- with only 35% of dam capacity remaining, according to government data -- while 19 major dams are nearing depletion and three have already run dry.
Across the north, wetlands in Golestan Province have also shrunk dramatically after years of drought and dam construction, leaving vast tracts of land barren and driving away hundreds of thousands of migratory birds.
Environmentalists warn that the loss of these wetlands could turn fertile regions into new dust storm hotspots, worsening air quality and threatening nearby farms.
In western Iran, the crisis has both ecological and social dimensions. Once a key habitat and tourist attraction, Sarab Niloufar supported local livelihoods and served as a natural water reservoir.
Officials say its disappearance shows how climate change, mismanagement, and overuse are converging to push Iran’s fragile water systems toward collapse.
“Without immediate national action on sustainable agriculture, groundwater control and interprovincial water sharing, more wetlands will follow the same fate,” Ghorbani said.
Majid Shoja, border guard commander for Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province, said this week that more than 1.5 million Afghan nationals had returned to their country since the start of the Persian year in March -- triple the number from last year.
About 500,000 of them left legally after their residence permits expired, mostly through the official crossings of Dogharoun and Taybad, he said.
Shoja added that around 40,000 illegal crossings were prevented in the first half of the year, double the figure from the same period in 2024.
Iran, he said, is expanding its eastern border sealing project, including the construction of a 300-kilometer border wall, of which 100 kilometers have been completed, and the installation of thermal cameras, acoustic sensors, and 360-degree watchtowers.
These systems, he said, can detect movement up to 45 kilometers away and reduce reliance on manpower.
The commander described the use of advanced surveillance and what he called border diplomacy with Afghanistan and Turkmenistan as key to enhancing security and managing migration.
He also reported a 12% rise in cross-border vehicle traffic and the growing importance of the Taybad free-trade zone and the Khaf–Herat railway link for legal commerce.
Broader crackdown on Afghan migrants
The tighter border measures come amid a nationwide crackdown on undocumented Afghans. In late August, an Interior Ministry official said Iran had expelled 1.8 million migrants over the past year -- most of them Afghans -- and planned to deport at least 800,000 more under a new removal plan.
Rights groups have reported several deadly incidents involving Afghan migrants. On September 8, border guards in Sistan-Baluchestan province opened fire on about 120 Afghans attempting to cross, killing six and wounding five, according to the Baluch rights group Haalvsh.
Human rights monitors, including HRANA, condemned the use of heavy weapons and described the incident as a violation of international law.
The United Nations has warned that mass deportations could trigger a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where the Taliban government is struggling to absorb the influx.
Tehran says its policies are aimed at enforcing immigration law and protecting its borders, insisting that Afghan migrants are treated in accordance with domestic and international norms.
“According to the foreign minister, such conditions have not been formally presented to Iran, and until that happens they cannot be seriously reviewed,” government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani told reporters in Tehran.
The Washington Post reported last week that the Trump administration wants Tehran to agree to direct and meaningful talks, end uranium enrichment, impose curbs on its missile program, and stop funding regional armed groups as the basis for any renewed diplomacy.
US officials cited in the report said the reimposition of United Nations snapback sanctions last month was meant to create the environment for a diplomatic solution.
The measures, triggered by Britain, France and Germany, restored pre-2015 sanctions covering arms transfers, financial restrictions, and missile-related activities.
Iran has dismissed the new sanctions as “illegal and politically motivated,” saying they violate its right to peaceful nuclear development.
The sanctions followed a June conflict in which Israeli and US strikes targeted Iranian military and nuclear sites, killing hundreds of personnel and civilians. The 12-day war ended with a US-brokered ceasefire on June 24.
Tehran has consistently denied pursuing nuclear weapons, insisting its program is civilian in nature.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN General Assembly last month that Iran remains open to dialogue but that “the wall of distrust with Washington is quite thick and quite tall.”
Earlier, Iran’s Security Chief Ali Larijani said US efforts to dictate Tehran’s military and foreign policy predetermine any negotiation outcome, calling them incompatible with Iran’s sovereignty.
The two countries held indirect talks earlier this year aimed at reducing tensions over Iran’s nuclear activities, but progress stalled after the June escalation.
Analysts say the US conditions -- particularly ending enrichment and curbing missile development -- mirror past sticking points that have derailed previous rounds of diplomacy.
Zanjani wrote on the social platform X that the UAE-based Crescent Petroleum had “not only seized Iran’s Oil Ministry building in London worth $125 million, but also confiscated $2.3 billion belonging to the National Iranian Oil Company held in Malaysia’s First Islamic Investment Bank.”
He added that the funds had been converted to euros and were awaiting transfer “to a Singapore bank,” while the company’s total claim against NIOC had reached $2.9 billion plus $13 million in accrued penalties.
According to Iranian media, the Kuala Lumpur High Court implemented a 2021 ruling by The Hague’s arbitration tribunal, ordering Iran to compensate Crescent over a failed 2001 gas supply contract for the offshore Salman field. The enforcement follows similar seizures of NIOC properties in London and Rotterdam.
On Monday, Iran’s state media also confirmed that a UK appeals court had upheld the confiscation of the NIOC House, a historic £100 million property near the British Parliament, ruling that it could be used to help satisfy Crescent’s arbitration award.
The judgment found that Iran’s attempt to transfer ownership of the building to another state entity was intended to evade debt recovery.
The Crescent case -- one of Iran’s longest-running energy disputes -- stems from a 25-year gas export contract. Iran withdrew from the deal in 2010, alleging unfavorable terms, prompting years of arbitration and legal challenges.
Once worth an estimated $13.5 billion, Zanjani made his fortune helping Iran bypass Western sanctions during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad through complex oil trading networks.
Zanjani, convicted in 2016 of embezzling $1.9 billion in oil revenues, had his death sentence commuted to 20 years after agreeing to help recover state funds abroad. Released last year, he has since rejoined Iran’s oil sector under government oversight, according to local media.
