Central Persian Desert. By Corina Möller - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Iran Demands Climate Cash to Reduce CO2 Emissions

Essay by Eric Worrall

Iran is currently facing ecological catastrophe caused by drought and misallocation of public resources. But apparently climate cash will fix the problem.

COP30: Iran says climate action impossible without financing

November 21, 2025 – 15:18

TEHRAN – Sediqeh Torabi, an official with the Department of Environment (DOE), has emphasized the need for sufficient and predictable financing for implementing climate actions by developing countries.

Referring to the intensifying impacts of climate change in one of the world’s driest and most sensitive regions, Torabi said that frequent droughts, water scarcity, extreme heat, forest fires, as well as sand and dust storms have adversely affected Iran.

She made the remarks on Tuesday, November 18, during a plenary session at the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP30, being held in Belém, Brazil.

The official noted that Iran cannot support raised ambition in emissions reductions or new targets unless financing, technology transfer, and capacity-building for developing countries are fully and reliably provided. She said that ambition must be matched by the means of implementation.

In a meeting with Anacláudia Rossbach, executive director of the UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), Ansari highlighted the need for comprehensive urban planning to mitigate climate change impacts, improve the sustainability and resilience of cities in the face of rising heat.

“Despite economic and climate challenges, Iran is doing its best to utilize regional and global scientific capacities to make cities more sustainable,” She noted.

Rossbach, for her part, emphasized the effective role of the UN-Habitat office in Iran. The official stressed the need to boost joint efforts in improving urban management and climate risk management, as well as improving the quality of urban life.

Read more: https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/520662/COP30-Iran-says-climate-action-impossible-without-financing

Iran has experienced severe drought for the last 5 years. But Iran’s problems aren’t just caused by lack of rainfall.

Iran’s water crisis exposes collapse of the regime

Decades of corruption, mismanagement and misplaced nuclear priorities leave Tehran facing rationing, empty reservoirs and potential evacuation

By Ilan Berman – Monday, November 17, 2025

The taps are running dry in Tehran.

Iran’s capital is now experiencing a massive and deepening water shortage. After months of drought and scorching heat, the five reservoirs feeding the city of more than 10 million are mostly empty. Local authorities have been forced to mandate water rationing, and the situation has become so dire that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian recently warned that, unless the region experiences rainfall in the coming weeks, the city may need to be evacuated altogether.

The reasons have everything to do with the skewed priorities of Iran’s ruling clerical regime. True to their revolutionary pedigree, Iran’s ayatollahs have consistently preferred guns over butter. They have poured billions of dollars into the country’s nuclear program, its burgeoning arsenal of ballistic missiles and its extensive network of terrorist proxies.

What they have not done is make a meaningful, sustained nationwide effort to reverse the country’s worsening water situation. Now that the crisis has truly hit, Iranian officials are predictably trying to deflect the blame onto the Iranian people themselves.

Read more: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/nov/17/irans-water-crisis-exposes-collapse-regime/

The author of the following article is Nikahang Kowsar, a University of Tehran trained geologist who once stood for election as a reformist candidate for Tehran City Council, but currently lives in exile in the United States.

Grand Theft Hydrology: How Iran’s Water Mafia Engineered a Drought—Then Sent the Bill

Iran’s drought isn’t some angry weather god punishing us with a dry spell.

NIK KOWSAR
MAY 23, 2025

Enter the Water Mafia—a term I’ve been using for years, finally getting the attention it deserves after some recent geopolitical truth bombs. Imagine a cozy little cartel of IRGC contractors, consultants with magical impact assessments, ex-revolutionaries rebranded as “hydropolitical visionaries,” and a revolving door of Energy Ministry officials who always seem to retire in Dubai or Vancouver… right around the time the rivers disappear.

These folks don’t manage collapse—they monetize it. Every dried-up wetland, every cracked riverbed, every tanker-truck village is another invoice: signed, sealed, and cashed.

And here’s the real magic: even in wet years, there’s still a crisis. Why? Because they’ve already sucked the aquifers dry—and surprise, they’re not refilling. Iran’s water policy is basically looting the savings account and burning down the vault. What used to be underground reservoirs—nature’s emergency fund—is now either empty or, thanks to land subsidence, permanently damaged. Entire basins have collapsed like a Ponzi scheme in a sandstorm. You can’t store water in a sunken sponge.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t just environmental collapse. It’s theft. It’s a crime scene. A slow-motion disaster that was warned1 about, predicted2, entirely preventable, and—most unforgivably—profitable.

Read more: https://nikkowsar.substack.com/p/grand-theft-hydrology-how-irans-water

Yep, I’m sure dropping a truck load of climate cash into that situation would fix everything. Do I need a /sarc tag?

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Tom Halla
November 23, 2025 10:06 am

Clerical fascism is not a way to get competent government.

Reply to  Tom Halla
November 23, 2025 3:31 pm

Blaming all the clerics, are we? The Mad Mullahs are not typical religious leaders, nor typical fascists for that matter. Atheist commies aren’t much better, though.

Scarecrow Repair
Reply to  OR For
November 23, 2025 5:28 pm

The key is a monopoly. Iran’s clerics don’t have much of a track record bucking the system, at least that I have noticed. You’d probably got the same laminated thinking if they were all Baptists or Mormons or Buddhists or plumbers.

Gregg Eshelman
November 23, 2025 10:15 am

Story tip More proof of much warmer climate thousands of years ago. In 2024 a hiker stumbled upon a 4,000+ year old reindeer trap in Norway. But researchers couldn’t access it until recently because it got buried in snow again. In addition to the trap structure, artifacts found were bows, iron spear points, a brooch pin shaped like a miniature axe, and for some reason a pine boat oar 1,400 feet above sea level. https://archaeologymag.com/2025/11/1500-year-old-reindeer-hunting-system-in-norway/

2hotel9
November 23, 2025 10:24 am

Iran’s problems can be easily fixed. All the people of Iran have to do is kill all the mullahs and imams. Every. Single. One. In every single mosque in the entire country. And anyone who rises up and declares themself a mullah or imam. Muslims have to do this, no one else can free them from these Satanic a$$holes. Not renounce islam, just kill the mullahs and imams, and any other so called islamic “leaders”. Allowing any man to place himself between the people and God is the source of the evil that has enveloped the islamic people, and only they can free themselves.

Reply to  2hotel9
November 23, 2025 3:36 pm

Murder is never the solution. It may seem like it in theory, but in practice it never works. Anyhow, I doubt the people of Iran are listening to you, so it’s just useless noise.

2hotel9
Reply to  OR For
November 23, 2025 4:09 pm

Yes, you are useless noise, glad you figured that out.

Reply to  OR For
November 23, 2025 4:14 pm

Unfortunately, murder is Islam’s solution.
“Fight until religion is only for Allah.”

As Christians and Jews also pray to Allah according to Islam they must convert, or pay the head tax (pay the tax or lose your head).

As for Hindus, Buddhists, Janeites and a host of other religions, since they do not pray to Allah its a simpler choice. Convert or die.

Reply to  OR For
November 23, 2025 6:35 pm

“Murder is never the solution. It may seem like it in theory, but in practice it never works.”

Well, the recent news about the Orange Man’s 28-point “peace plan” for giving Ukraine territory to Vladimir Putin as an reward for outright, intentional murder of Ukrainian citizens (non-combatants) would seem to say that’s not the case.

1930’s Chamberlain-style appeasement has apparently found a home with the current US administration . . . how sad and EMBARRASSING! . . . I never imagined I’d see the day.

Sean Galbally
November 23, 2025 10:35 am

NET ZERO POLICY (“De-carbonising” or removing carbon dioxide, a harmless gas, essential to life) does nothing to change the climate. It is a total sham. Every policy maker should be simply asked. How exactly will Net Zero help the planet? Of course it doesn’t. Expensive policy, including crippling energy costs  is being made in total defiance of the facts. Massive renewable subsidies are doing more harm than good. The vast sums should be used to put our economy on a sound footing, not wasted.

leefor
Reply to  Sean Galbally
November 23, 2025 8:19 pm

They could of course use nuclear for energy.

mleskovarsocalrrcom
November 23, 2025 10:39 am

But of course Iran, a major fossil fuel provider, wants money to save it from supposed fossil fuel damage. Which brings up my constant question …….. what countries, if any, have received Climate Change money from the UN/IPCC bucket? Any? Where can we see an accounting of all the money given so far? What has this money bought those countries? I bet it’s in a UN slush fund being used to promote terrorism to destabilize Western countries and provide transportation for the immigrants/invaders.

Reply to  mleskovarsocalrrcom
November 23, 2025 3:38 pm

Will they use the world’s charity to drill wells or build nukes and rockets? Their track record isn’t too good.

November 23, 2025 11:04 am

Iran, eh? Isn’t that one of the many Middle East countries where for every $1 USD that flow into the “government” about one penny actual makes it down to the common inhabitant of the country?

Plus, my understanding is that Iran is fighting climate change™ by launching missiles against Israel:

“Iran is accelerating missile production with the goal of launching up to 2,000 missiles in a single barrage . . . Israel warned it will resume strikes if Iran rebuilds its nuclear or long-range missile programs . . .”
https://san.com/cc/iran-wants-to-mass-produce-missiles-israel-says-it-may-strike-again

Yeah, just the guys the US and other nations in the world should be giving money. /sarc

Anybody think it’s a good thing to replace CO2 emissions with radionuclide emissions?

November 23, 2025 12:01 pm

Perhaps some clean non-CO2 producing nuclear energy could help their situation….delivered by the same B-2s that solved their nuclear research issues previously.

SxyxS
Reply to  TEWS_Pilot
November 23, 2025 1:27 pm

No need for B2s?
As Seymour Hersh already revealed 4 decades ago – Israel is threatening other countries with the nuclear Samson option.
With an estimated 200-400 nuclear warheads, they can simply use rockets.

Iran will in return then send their rockets filled with radioactive waste .

Reply to  TEWS_Pilot
November 23, 2025 6:48 pm

No need for B-2s and risking the lives of the pilots. Five to ten TLAM-Ns (short name for BGM-109A Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles carrying W80 nuclear warheads) will make the sands glow at night just as brightly.

Sparta Nova 4
Reply to  ToldYouSo
November 24, 2025 10:18 am

Then Iran can become solvent exporting nuclear glass.

Reply to  Sparta Nova 4
November 24, 2025 12:04 pm

Hmmm . . . now there’s a thought.

However, if such comes to pass, nuclear glass might not be a rare collector’s item for very long.

Tony Cole
November 23, 2025 12:09 pm

The irony is that Iran refused help from Israel to provide water, This truely proves there is a god…

November 23, 2025 12:48 pm

This is a bit had to believe. The Iranians are serious. I heard that they are teaching climate change in high school and have climate quizzes for citizens to improve their knowledge (just kidding).

Bruce Cobb
November 23, 2025 1:54 pm

They need to see Helen Waite about getting that climate cash.

Tony Tea
November 23, 2025 2:53 pm

When even middle eastern oil nations are joining the shakedown…

Bob
November 23, 2025 3:45 pm

I guess what I don’t understand is why Tehran wouldn’t have a water crisis? A population of 10 million people and average annual precipitation of 9 inches. One would have to mighty mindful of your water use even under the best circumstance.

November 23, 2025 3:46 pm

If only Trump hadn’t bombed those centrifuges they were using to make fresh water! /sarc

John the Econ
November 23, 2025 3:57 pm

Great example of the climate grift: Hand over the cash, or the climate gets it!

lynn
November 23, 2025 4:25 pm

Eat radioactive dirt and die.

lynn
November 23, 2025 5:12 pm

Iran can eat radioactive dirt and die. They tried to kill my friend in college, just because he was related to the Shah. They have continually attacked my business. They are not good people.

JTraynor
November 23, 2025 6:34 pm

Didn’t Biden give the Mullahs $6B a few years back? Maybe they should have spent that on improving the lives of Iranians instead of arming to annihilate Israel.

GeorgeInSanDiego
November 23, 2025 8:15 pm

Let the Shiites ask their occulted Imam to intercede with Allah on their behalf.

Reply to  GeorgeInSanDiego
November 28, 2025 12:03 pm

Perhaps the Shiites implore Allah to guide their ballsitic missiles, thus accounting for their renowned poor accuracy?