Recent rains delivered Iran from a dangerous dry spell straight into to destructive floods because the land has been denuded by years of poor management, environmental expert Roozbeh Eskandari told Eye for Iran.
As heavy rainfall hits parts of the country, flooding has replaced drought as the most visible sign of Iran’s environmental crisis.
But instead of easing water shortages, the rain is accelerating destruction, washing through cities, villages and farmlands without replenishing groundwater or restoring depleted aquifers.
Decades of destructive urban expansion, dam building, interbasin water transfers and unchecked groundwater extraction have compacted the land, Eskandari said, chalking it up to "bad governance"
Trained in hydraulic structures and environmental research, Eskandari studies how dams, urban expansion, soil degradation and groundwater extraction affect flood behavior and water scarcity, placing him at the intersection of engineering, environment and policy.
Land that once drank in the rainfall no longer can: "The soil has lost the ability to absorb the water," Eskandari said.
A familiar pattern has emerged across Iran: rain arrives after prolonged drought, but instead of recharging groundwater, it turns into runoff. Water remains on the surface, rushing downhill, collecting mud and debris and producing floods.
Climate change has altered rainfall patterns, Eskandari adds, increasing intensity and shortening precipitation periods, which he calls "not a root cause, but can be considered as an intensifier."
Flooding offers little relief because Iran lacks the systems needed to manage water when it arrives. Watershed management, land-use planning and early warning mechanisms that could turn floods into a resource are largely absent.
"These floods could be used to feed the aquifers," Eskandari said. Instead, without preparation, they are simply not used."
Environmental injustice
Damage consistently concentrates in areas with weak infrastructure and limited political influence. These include villages, informal settlements and poorer urban districts.
Wealthier neighborhoods are better protected by drainage networks, reinforced construction and faster access to emergency services, turning flooding into an issue of environmental injustice.
The flooding now unfolding is also taking place against a deeper structural crisis.
When Dr. Kaveh Madani spoke to Eye for Iran earlier this year, he warned that Iran is no longer facing a typical drought but what he calls water bankruptcy, a condition in which consumption exceeds supply and reserves built over generations have already been exhausted.
“We have never seen such a thing,” Madani said. “The people of Tehran, the city that is the richest, most populous and strongest politically, is running out of water, is facing day zero.”
Madani’s warning reinforces Eskandari’s assessment that short bursts of rain or even seasonal floods will not reverse the crisis without systemic reform.
For Eskandari, the shift from drought to flooding is not an anomaly but a warning.
“We are one step closer to territorial collapse,” he said. “These policies have taken Iran into, as I call it, a point of no return,” Eskandari said, “for the land and for the people, both at the same time.”
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The city’s average air quality index (AQI) reached 116 on Friday, placing it in the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” category, Tehran’s Air Quality Control Company said. The figure marked a sharp deterioration from the previous 24-hour average of 83, which had indicated acceptable conditions.
Since the start of the current Iranian year in March, Tehran has recorded only six days of clean air. Official figures show the capital has experienced 130 days of acceptable air quality, 113 days classified as unhealthy for sensitive groups, 20 unhealthy days for the general population, two very unhealthy days and two days deemed hazardous.
The renewed pollution prompted health warnings urging people with heart and lung disease, children, pregnant women and the elderly to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel, IRNA, the state-run news agency, reported on Friday.
Chronic crisis in major cities
Air quality is measured on a scale in which AQI levels between zero and 50 indicate clean air, 51 to 100 acceptable conditions, 101 to 150 unhealthy for sensitive groups, 151 to 200 unhealthy for all, 201 to 300 very unhealthy and 301 to 500 hazardous.
Air pollution has become one of Iran’s most serious public health and environmental challenges in recent years. Major cities including Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad and Ahvaz regularly experience prolonged periods of unhealthy air, particularly during colder months when temperature inversions trap pollutants close to the ground.
Public frustration has grown as pollution episodes intensify, with many citizens saying that simply breathing clean air has become a daily struggle. Environmental specialists have long warned that weak enforcement, aging vehicle fleets and reliance on highly polluting fuels have worsened the problem.
Critics say government policies, including the burning of heavy fuel oil at power plants during energy shortages, have played a direct role in exacerbating pollution, exposing millions of residents to serious health risks.
Khuzestan cities also affected
Air pollution also affected several cities in the southern province of Khuzestan on Friday. Data from the National Air Quality Monitoring Center showed AQI levels reaching 153 in Khorramshahr and 152 in Molasani, both classified as unhealthy for all population groups.
Other cities, including Abadan, Shushtar, Karun and Haftkel, recorded AQI levels between 108 and 136, placing them in the unhealthy-for-sensitive-groups range. Local media advised residents with underlying health conditions, as well as children and the elderly, to avoid strenuous outdoor activity.
The pollution wave comes as seasonal influenza cases rise across Iran, compounding respiratory health risks. In August, Abbas Shahsavani, deputy head of the Air Quality and Climate Change Research Center at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, said more than 35,000 deaths nationwide in the previous year were attributed to air pollution, underscoring the scale of a crisis that remains largely unresolved.
