Iran's water crisis

Due to the increase in population, Iran is running out of water.

AlJ report here.



a week or two ago I linked to some stories on Saudi and Israel's desalinization programs, and of course, one subtext of Syria's civil war was that their farmers ran out of water due to overuse and so migrated to the cities.

no, not my area of expertise, but sometimes background stories give perspective of what is going on.

For example, Dr. E, who is very influential in ecological issues in that country, in an old blog post discusses a meeting on the water supply for Tehran, and includes this little paragraph:

Water is the source of all life. The Environment Committee of the Tehran City Council visited one of Tehran's water purification facilities and laboratories probably the most advanced in our region. Dr. Abad, my colleague in the Council also accompanied us. She is a woman of character , affectionate and forward-looking in her ways. She has a history of 4 years imprisonment in the AbuGhurieb prison in Iraq, during the eight year war that Saddam waged against Iran. We sometimes talk together about her courageous resistance in very difficult and inhuman circumstances alongside other women who were also imprisoned in those days.The strength and courage that faith can give to us is sometimes unbelievable.

Bet you didn't know Saddam Hussein waged war against Iran (and was helped by the US quietly to do so). I was told at the time by an Israeli friend that Saddam was in some ways worse than Iran, which at the time was an anti American theocracy and always made into the bad guy by the news. I think this was before the Israelis bombed Saddam's nuclear project: and he was crazy enough to use it.

AlJ had an article about why some Muslims in the US think they can live with Trump: One included the reason that the press is so Anti Islam. I agree.

and this article points out that both Trump and Iranians are business oriented deal makers so could find common ground in some problems of the middle east.

and Trump's argument that states are best for caring for people is something that Iran could appreciate, since there is a lot of resentment against America's official and unoffical aggressive cultural imperialism. (Something the Pope complained about when he visited the Philippines.)

the current geopolitical dynamics make the staunchly nationalist and isolationist Donald Trump the clear choice for Iranian leaders.
At an ideological level, the Islamic Republic has no issues with a nationalist USA enjoying its own culture. Instead, it is America’s overbearing foreign policy and specifically its over-reach and shameless double standards in the Middle East, which inform Iranian anti-Americanism.
The geopolitical calculus underpinning a qualified preference for Trump is reflected in the positions of the country’s core foreign policy establishments.

annd Dr. E is hopeful that the lifting of sanctions will allow a more ecofriendly and sustainable development in the region.

What is important is that many conflicts can be resolved peacefully ;if there is a genuine resolve for peace, that is if the military machinery and industry of the big powers allow, if the cartels and oil trusts permit, if the corrupt politicians change course, if the people of the world awaken to these realities which are shaping our future and that of generations to come.

and no, I don't know anything about these things: except that Trump has already received best wishes from the Egyptian president because of his strict stand against the radicals in that country who are trying to destablize things.

The place is a mess, and has been for 5000 years, but the Middle East also has a long history of trade, even with outsiders, and there are Muslims who remember this part of their heritage who might be able to lessen the toxic brew that the Saudis have financed via their mosques and madrasses, which stresses hatred and dislike of others, which is one of the major reasons for the Islamic terrorism in so many places of the world, including the Philippines..