Iran’s Capital Has Run Out of Water, Forcing It to Move

Iran's capital is moving. The reason is an environmental disaster

TO Umberto Basilio edited by Claire Cameron

Amid a deepening environmental crisis and severe water shortages, Tehran can no longer remain capital of Iran– said the president of the country.

The situation in Tehran is the result of a “perfect storm of climate change and corruption,” says Michael Rubin, a political scientist at the American Enterprise Institute.

“We no longer have a choice,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said during a speech on Thursday.

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Instead, Iranian officials are considering moving the capital to the country's southern coast. But experts say the proposal does not change the reality for the nearly 10 million people who live in Tehran and are now suffering the consequences. decades of declining water supply.

Since at least 2008, scientists have been warning that uncontrolled pumping of groundwater for urban and agricultural use was rapidly depleting the country's aquifers. Overuse didn't just deplete underground reserves—it destroyed them as the earth shrunk and sank irreversibly. One recent study found that Iran's central plateau, where most of the country's aquifers are located, is sinking by more than 35 centimeters every year. As a result, aquifers lose about 1.7 billion cubic meters of water each year as the ground continually erodes, leaving little room to store groundwater to recover, says Dario Solano, a geologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico who was not involved in the study.

“We saw it coming,” Solano says.

Other major cities such as Cape TownSouth Africa, Mexico City Jakarta, Indonesia, and parts of California are also facing zero-day scenarios as they sink and run out of water.

This is not the first time Iran's capital has moved. Over the centuries it has changed many times: from Tabriz to Isfahan and Shiraz. Some of these former capitals are still thriving, while others exist in ruins, Rubin says. But this is the first time the Iranian government has moved its capital due to an environmental disaster.

Still, Rubin says, “it would be a mistake to look at this only through the lens of climate change.” Poor management of water, land and wastewater and corruption have worsened the crisis, he said. If the capital were moved to the remote Makran coast in the south, it could cost more than $100 billion. The region is known for its harsh climate and difficult terrain, and some experts question its viability as a national center. Relocating capital is often driven more by politics than environmental concerns, says Linda Shea, a sociologist and urban planner at Cornell University. “Climate change is not what causes it, but it is a convenient factor to blame to avoid responsibility” for bad policy decisions, she says.

Editor's Note (11/21/25): This article was edited after publication to correct the date of a quoted statement by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and a reference to a recent study on the flooding of Iran's central plateau.

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