100: Iran's Multi-Faceted Crises: Water Scarcity, Pollution, and Transnational Repression Guest: Jonathan Sayah Jonathan Sayah discussed the multi-faceted crises plaguing Iran, reflecting poor management and ecological decline, with Tehran overwhelmed by sever
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 18 November 2025
⏱️ 11 minutes
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Summary
Guest: Jonathan Sayah
Jonathan Sayah discussed the multi-faceted crises plaguing Iran, reflecting poor management and ecological decline, with Tehran overwhelmed by severe water scarcity as dams dry up and crippling air pollution with CO2 levels 10 times the WHO standard, while the water crisis is worsened by the regime, especially IRGC-affiliated contractors, who prioritize their support base through unregulated mega-projects, leading to rivers and lakes drying up, a deliberate deprivation of clean water that constitutes a human rights violation, as environmental disasters have driven widespread internal migration into Tehran, taxing infrastructure and leading to issues like land subsidence, with the population considered "prime for unrest," while separately, Iran continues its policy of transnational repression, highlighted by the recent foiled plot to assassinate Israel's ambassador in Mexico, as Iran targets both Israeli/American officials and relies on criminal networks to repress Iranian dissidents abroad, while consistently holding American dual citizens hostage as political leverage.
1896 TEHRAN
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| 0:00.0 | This is CBS Eye on the World. Here's John Batchelor. |
| 0:11.9 | This is CBSI on the world. I'm John Batchelor. I welcome my colleague Janet and Sire research |
| 0:17.5 | analyst, the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, writing about the Islamic Republic of Iran. |
| 0:23.2 | We now go to something that you cannot ignore the multiple crises weighing upon the capital city, Tehran, in the Islamic Republic. |
| 0:32.6 | A very large and growing city of many moving parts, except, Janitin, a very good evening to you. |
| 0:41.1 | Without water, there is no life. And what we have right now throughout the country or water crises, |
| 0:47.8 | but especially weighing on Tehran. What is life like day to day? Do they have moments when |
| 0:53.3 | they can get water and moments they can? Is the water bad? Good evening, too. Having grown up there, I experienced how that the water scarcity intensified throughout the years. And the implications of that are beyond just an environmental disaster. It has economic implications. Without water, |
| 1:13.3 | there's not enough power. And without enough power, factories and manufacturing facilities are |
| 1:18.1 | increasingly shutting down. On top of that, you're talking about a very congested city. And we have |
| 1:24.5 | more and more internal migration from other parts of the country coming in |
| 1:28.2 | into Tehran, fleeing similar environmental issues that also persist in Tehran. So at this point, |
| 1:35.3 | we're looking at a capital city that is reflective of bad management, and it's effectively a ticking |
| 1:41.1 | time bomb. There are other disasters, but I'll linger only a little bit on water. |
| 1:46.8 | I remember being told that the people of southwest Iran, which is a distinct identity from |
| 1:55.1 | Tehran, southwest Iran, have water problems in excessive amounts to do with their lands. |
| 2:04.1 | They can't water it. |
| 2:05.1 | And that's been a tool that the regime is used over the years. |
| 2:08.3 | Do I remember correctly? |
| 2:10.1 | You do. |
| 2:11.0 | So back in 2021, we saw major protests erupt in the province of Khuzestan, which is in the southwest. |
| 2:16.8 | But that has now spread across the country. So farmers in the center of Khuzestan, which is in the southwest. But that has now spread |
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