This was reported by the Iranian state news agency IRNA amid the driest fall in half a century.

The National Weather Forecasting Center of Iran's Meteorological Organizations reported on Saturday that precipitation across the country has decreased by about 89% compared to the long-term average, making this the driest autumn in Iran in the last 50 years.

According to IRNA, the cloud seeding operation was carried out "with the help of aircraft equipped with cloud seeding equipment" in the Lake Urmia basin in the northwest of the country.

Further, cloud seeding will continue in the provinces of Western and Eastern Azerbaijan, washed by the lake (the Iranian provinces border the Republic of Azerbaijan).

This process has been used in Iran for many years: chemicals are sprayed into clouds, stimulating the release of moisture in the form of rain.

This is happening against the backdrop of one of the worst droughts in Iran's history, which has been going on for the fifth year in a row. Key reservoirs are drying up due to record low rainfall, authorities are struggling to reduce water consumption, and residents are desperately trying to save it to prevent a disaster.

Just two decades ago, Lake Urmia was the largest lake in the Middle East, and its local economy was booming with hotels and restaurants catering to tourists. Now the boats are rusting and standing motionless on the ground, which is rapidly turning into a salt plain.

Climate change significantly worsens the already serious situation, centralasia.media reports.

The acute water crisis "has raised concerns about the supply of drinking water even in major cities, including the capital Tehran," state-run Iranian Press TV reported on Sunday.

According to Mohammad Mehdi Javadian-Zadeh, head of the National Cloud Seeding Research Center, these cloud seeding operations will continue until mid-May, "whether by plane or drone, and if the country has suitable systems," IRNA reported.

"Given that our country is located in arid regions and there is an urgent need for renewable water resources, cloud seeding is carried out only to increase precipitation in various catchment areas," Javadian-Zadeh added.