Due to salt storms, the area around Lake Urmia is being evacuated. According to ILNA, the severe depletion of water reserves in Lake Urmia and the continued dryingURMIYA LAKE CRISIS of the lake have created a serious social and environmental crisis in the surrounding villages.

The agency reports that farmland in the region has already become unusable, dozens of villages have been evacuated due to salt storms, and people have been forced to migrate en masse.“Several of my neighbors are already struggling with respiratory and chronic diseases. The salty air has become unbearable for human health,” said a local farmer. In the abandoned villages, there are no traces left of the families who once lived prosperous lives there. At the same time, warnings have been issued about the rising risk of cancer in nearby villages.

The government has also responded to the issue. Iran’s First Vice President, Mohammad Reza Aref, called the restoration of the lake “the country’s most important matter.”