Lake Urmia dries up: Environmental disaster and a growing crisis for Iran’s Azerbaijani population

Lake Urmia, once one of the world’s largest saline lakes and the biggest saltwater body in the Middle East, has completely dried up. The development marks a dramatic escalation of one of Iran’s most serious environmental disasters, with far-reaching ecological, economic, and political consequences.

Officials had previously warned that the lake could disappear entirely by the end of summer if restoration efforts failed. Prolonged drought, rising temperatures, and chronic water mismanagement have prevented any meaningful recovery.

TL;DR – in 5 points:

1. Lake Urmia has completely dried up, marking one of Iran’s worst environmental disasters after decades of drought, climate change, and water mismanagement.
2. The ecological collapse is severe, with wildlife habitats destroyed, tourism vanished, and agriculture and public health under growing threat.
3. International actors (FAO, UNDP, Japan) are supporting recovery efforts focused on water efficiency and climate-smart agriculture, but progress is limited.
4. The crisis has a strong ethnic dimension, as Iran’s Azerbaijani population increasingly views the lake’s disappearance as evidence of discrimination and neglect by Tehran.
5. Rising protests and tensions show how water scarcity has become a political and social flashpoint, threatening long-term stability in north-western Iran.

From ecological treasure to salt desert

Located in Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province, Lake Urmia was historically a vital ecosystem and a regional tourism magnet. It hosted large populations of migratory birds such as flamingos, pelicans, ducks, and egrets, and supported one of the world’s largest natural habitats of Artemia brine shrimp—an extremophile species capable of surviving salinity levels exceeding 340 grams per litre, more than eight times saltier than ocean water.

With the lake now fully desiccated, this delicate food web has collapsed. What was once a vast body of water has turned into a salt-white, barren plain, increasingly associated with dust storms, soil salinisation, and long-term health risks for surrounding communities.

The human impact is equally severe. Tourism has effectively vanished, local agriculture is under pressure, and livelihoods once dependent on the lake’s ecosystem are disappearing.

To better understand from a Hungarian perspective, the original size of Lake Urmia (about 5000-6000 km²) was about 8-10 times the size of Lake Balaton in Hungary, which has an area of 600 km². However, Lake Urmia has now shrunk by 95% and is now smaller than the “Hungarian Sea”, only about 300-500 km².

FAO and international efforts to halt the collapse

In response to the worsening crisis, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), together with the United Nations Development Programme, has stepped up cooperation with Iranian authorities, Teheran Times said.

Speaking at a recent workshop in the Lake Urmia Basin, Farrukh Toirov, FAO Representative in Iran, stressed that water efficiency and sustainable agriculture are critical to any recovery effort.

“We have brought together some of the most experienced experts so that this project can advance on a strong foundation, guided by scientific knowledge and informed by local realities,” Toirov said, according to an FAO press release dated December 4.

He underlined that Iran’s agricultural sector faces highly diverse agro-ecological conditions and warned against one-size-fits-all solutions. While large farms may afford advanced irrigation technologies, many small and medium farmers cannot, making simple, affordable, and scalable solutions essential.

FAO reaffirmed its commitment to working with national institutions, research centres, and local experts, praising Iran’s scientific capacity while emphasising the need for inclusive implementation.