Pezeshkian touts water, energy protection as national security priority
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said safeguarding the country’s water and energy resources was a matter of national security and social stability, stressing the need for stricter consumption management, protection of strategic water reserves and expansion of smart infrastructure.
“Today, preserving the country’s water and energy resources is not merely an economic issue, but part of national security, social stability and the country’s resilience against pressures and crises,” Pezeshkian said during a specialized meeting with senior officials from Iran’s Energy Ministry.
As part of the government’s ongoing field assessments and oversight of executive agencies, Pezeshkian visited the ministry to review the latest status of the country’s water resources and energy production and supply networks with the energy minister, deputies and senior managers.
The officials presented reports on dam reservoir levels, strategic water reserves, power plant performance, efforts to expand energy production capacity, the stability of the national electricity grid and projects under development in the renewable energy sector.
Pezeshkian praised the ministry’s efforts in managing the country’s current conditions.
Referring to the sensitive state of Iran’s water and energy resources, the president said, “The issue of conservation and reforming consumption patterns must become a broad and public discourse across the country.”
Pezeshkian also stressed the need to protect Iran’s stored water resources and called for tougher action against illegal extraction, including intensified oversight of unauthorized wells and excessive withdrawals from underground aquifers.
Over the past five years, the country has faced continuous drought.
According to the latest official data on Iran’s major dams, reservoirs are currently 66% full.
Khabar Online, citing figures from the Iran Water Resources Management Company, reported that inflows into the country’s reservoirs from the start of the water year on September 23, 2025 through May 16, 2026 reached 37.04 billion cubic meters, up 69% from 21.90 billion cubic meters during the same period a year earlier.
ISNA reported that total outflows from Iran’s dams rose 12% year-on-year. Water stored in reservoirs stood at 34.23 billion cubic meters, up 26% from 27.21 billion cubic meters a year earlier, while overall dam capacity utilization remained at 66%.
However, conditions at several major dams remain critical, with five dams reported to be less than 10% full.
Total nationwide precipitation has reached 227.1 millimeters, compared with 225.7 millimeters in the long-term average and 140.8 millimeters during the same period of the previous water year.