A new battleground – the rain rivalry in the Middle East

Iran accuses Israel and the UAE of stealing their precipitation via cloud seeding, a rain-inducing method

i24NEWS
i24NEWS
2 min read
2 min read
 ■ 
A woman and a boy walk on the dried-up riverbed of the Zayandeh Roud river that no longer runs under the 400-year-old Si-o-seh Pol bridge in Isfahan, Iran, on July 10, 2018.
A woman and a boy walk on the dried-up riverbed of the Zayandeh Roud river that no longer runs under the 400-year-old Si-o-seh Pol bridge in Isfahan, Iran, on July 10, 2018.AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, file

Amid a searing drought and unprecedented heatwaves, Iranian officials are claiming that countries like Israel and the United Arab Emirates are stealing their rain from the clouds above

The claim is not a new one, according to i24NEWS Middle East correspondent Ariel Oseran, who recalled when a commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps accused Israel and the UAE in 2018 of making Iranian clouds void of rain.

Such an accusation is based on cloud seeding, a practice that countries across the Middle East and north Africa are using more and more to combat dry and hot weather.

The rain-inducing method – a practice also being used in places like China and Mexico – involves sending planes to the base of clouds and releasing chemicals in an effort to provoke precipitation. 

Video poster

Temperatures in the Middle East rose far faster than the world average in the past three decades, with droughts predicted to come with great frequency and severity as precipitation continues to decrease.

Oseran noted that in more than half of Middle Eastern countries, the amount of rainfall also decreased by 20 percent in the last three decades to 10 inches of rainfall per year. Experts say that by 2050, people in the Middle East will face up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit for over 200 days a year.

Amid the stark forecasts, countries are looking to find new ways to increase rainfall.

This article received 1 comments

Comments