Sanctions, climate strain, and infrastructure gaps push Iranians into a New Era of daily survival

Department of Research, Studies and International News -11-08-2025

Across Iran, daily routines are being reshaped by a combination of extreme heat, prolonged drought, and repeated power and water cuts. For millions, life now revolves around managing scarcity, a crisis exacerbated by decades of hostile Western sanctions that have crippled infrastructure investment.

Sara, a 44-year-old digital marketer in Tehran, begins each morning not by reading the news but by checking the blackout schedule. She memorizes the weekly plan yet still refreshes it at 6 a.m. in case authorities make last-minute changes. Without electricity, her air conditioner shuts down, leaving her to endure blistering heat. The water situation is even less predictable, unannounced cuts lasting hours force her to store water in buckets whenever taps still run.

Iran’s Meteorological Organization reports that this summer’s temperatures have reached record levels while the nation faces its fifth consecutive year of drought. Rainfall during the current water year is down by 40 percent, with only 137 millimeters received compared to the long-term average of 228.2 millimeters.

The energy sector is under immense strain. Although Iran is rich in oil and gas reserves, years of U.S.-led sanctions have hindered modernization of its transmission networks and power plants. Parliament data shows that 85 percent of electricity still comes from fossil fuels, 13 percent from hydropower, and a small remainder from renewables and nuclear sources. Shortages of natural gas at times force power stations to burn heavy fuel oil, a last resort due to pollution concerns.

Summer droughts make matters worse by reducing hydroelectric output precisely when air conditioning demand peaks. The result: millions of citizens forced to plan their lives around predictable blackouts and sudden water cuts.

Fatemeh, a 26-year-old student who moved from the town of Andisheh to Tehran last year, describes her first experience with an unannounced water outage in sweltering 40°C heat. With just two bottles of water and a single block of ice, she rationed her supplies carefully, even using ice to cool her feet. Showering became a challenge, leading her to purchase expensive bottled water online just to wash.

Months later, she has adapted to a survival routine, storing water in multiple containers, filling her evaporative cooler during outages, and placing ice in vents to keep air temperatures down. When both water and electricity fail, she uses soaked towels to cool herself. “It feels like having a fever,” she says, noting that the balcony offers no relief as the night air is often hotter than indoors.

The impact reaches far beyond households. Offices, retail stores, and small businesses lose hours, even entire days, of productivity. Pastry shop owners have been forced to discard spoiled goods after refrigerators fail. Remote work, a supposed solution, becomes impossible without electricity and internet.

Shahram, a 38-year-old software company manager, says power cuts often hit during peak hours. “If the blackout starts at 2, 3, or 4 p.m., I usually send everyone home. By the time electricity returns, the workday is over,” he explains.

Experts point to a combination of factors: chronic underinvestment in infrastructure, lack of access to advanced technology due to sanctions, and unsustainable consumption patterns. Mohammad Arshadi, a water governance specialist at the Tadbir-E-Abe Iran think tank, stresses that water usage needs a fundamental overhaul. Large-scale farming of water-intensive crops, expansion of heavy industry, and rapid urbanization have all driven demand beyond sustainable levels.

For Sara, Fatemeh, Shahram, and countless others, the uncertainty has become part of daily life. Sara still checks her phone each morning to see if she will have electricity to work or water to cook and clean. Fatemeh measures each day’s success not by what she achieves academically but by how effectively she manages her stored water and power.

What was once unthinkable, living in a major capital city without reliable electricity or water, is now a defining reality for a generation. As Iran approaches another winter with unresolved energy and water shortages, the question is no longer whether the crisis will pass, but how citizens will continue adapting to a new normal shaped by external economic pressure, climate strain, and long-neglected infrastructure upgrades.