Iran to Relocate Capital from Tehran Amid Worsening Water Crisis

• President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran’s overexpansion and drought make relocation unavoidable.
• Tehran, home to 10 million people, consumes nearly a quarter of Iran’s total water supply.
• The government is considering moving the capital to the country’s south near the Persian Gulf.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has announced plans to move the nation’s capital from Tehran, citing an acute water shortage, overpopulation, and worsening land subsidence.

Speaking during a visit to Hormozgan province, Pezeshkian said the new capital should be established closer to the Persian Gulf, where access to open waters could bolster trade and sustainability.

“The problems the country is currently facing require us to direct the development path towards the Persian Gulf,” Pezeshkian said. “Tehran, Karaj, and Qazvin are currently facing a water crisis, and this crisis cannot be easily solved.”

He revealed that he had presented the proposal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last year, emphasizing that Iran has “no choice but to move” if it hopes to address the growing environmental and urban strain.

Environmental Pressures Mount

Tehran, with a population exceeding 10 million, consumes roughly a quarter of Iran’s total water supply. Annual rainfall has dropped by more than half — from 260mm to about 100–140mm — leaving reservoirs and aquifers critically low. Pezeshkian warned that the cost of transporting water to the capital could soon reach €4 per cubic meter, calling the city’s consumption patterns “unsustainable.”

Iran’s water shortage has already caused large-scale land subsidence, desertification, and rural displacement, particularly in central provinces. Environmental experts have long warned that unchecked urbanization and declining rainfall are pushing parts of the country toward ecological collapse.

Historical Context and Possible Relocation

Efforts to move Iran’s capital date back decades. In the early 2010s, the Rouhani administration and Iran’s parliament discussed relocating key government institutions to Semnan or Isfahan, but the plans were shelved due to cost and political resistance.

Under Pezeshkian, the discussion has shifted southward. Government sources cited by Iranian media have named Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, and Qeshm Island among possible sites, chosen for their proximity to desalination infrastructure, trade ports, and maritime access to the Persian Gulf. Officials say these locations could support new administrative, industrial, and residential hubs less vulnerable to drought and seismic risk.

The renewed push comes as Iran faces its worst drought in half a century and mounting pressure from environmental scientists. Pezeshkian’s administration has framed the proposal not only as a response to water scarcity but also as part of a broader economic shift — moving Iran’s political and industrial focus southward, closer to the Persian Gulf’s trade routes and desalination potential.