Tehran ~ Iran has launched one of its most ambitious infrastructure projects to date — an 800-kilometre pipeline transporting desalinated seawater from the Gulf of Oman to the central plateau — even as new satellite images and meteorological assessments reveal the country is battling its worst water crisis in half a century.

President Masoud Pezeshkian inaugurated the project on Saturday in Sirjan, calling it a “strategic lifeline” intended to secure water for drought-stricken industrial hubs such as Isfahan.

A $291M Megaproject

Built in just two years at a cost of about $291.6 million, the pipeline will carry desalinated water to Isfahan province, home to Mobarakeh Steel, Iran’s largest industrial enterprise. The steel giant provided significant technical and financial support.

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