Shafaq News – Baghdad / Ankara

Iraq is urging Turkiye and Iran to increase water flows as the country faces its worst drought in more than 90 years, lawmakers and experts said on Sunday.

Water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates have fallen to less than half their usual volume, and dam reserves are near depletion, endangering crops and drinking supplies. The Water Resources Ministry says 2025 is Iraq’s driest year since 1933, caused by upstream restrictions and climate change.

Iraq, ranked by the United Nations and World Bank among the five nations most vulnerable to climate change, has lost 30% of its farmland over the past three decades. The World Bank estimates Iraq will need $233 billion by 2040, around 6% of its annual GDP, to confront its deepening water and climate crisis.

Read more: Iraq needs months of rain to refill rivers

MP Thair Mukheef of the parliamentary Agriculture and Water Committee stressed that Turkiye and Iran have ignored Baghdad’s appeals for fair water sharing, despite a 10-year framework agreement signed in April 2024 by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “People in some areas are now drinking stagnant water,” he told Shafaq News, blaming the government for failing to defend Iraq’s water rights.

Earlier today, Baghdad and Ankara signed a new mechanism under the 2024 deal, with Turkiye pledging to release one billion cubic meters of water to help ease shortages.

However, water expert Tahseen al-Moussawi warned that pollution, salinity, and declining river flows are destroying farmland and ecosystems, calling on Baghdad to press Tehran to release water as well, through the Karun River to slow salt intrusion in Basra.

Read more: A century of promises: Iraq’s water diplomacy with Turkiye and Iran

The Tigris and Euphrates are “strategic and sensitive” for both countries, Turkish analyst Jawad Gok said, noting that Turkiye’s domestic droughts fueled the construction of massive dams, while Iraq’s weak management and lack of technical oversight worsened the crisis.

“Official visits are mostly symbolic,” he added. “Real progress requires continuous coordination and binding agreements.”