Al-Monitor | Saeed Jalili: Iran’s Caspian Sea regions have always had abundant water resources, but they face a new threat as drought forces residents in the interior of the country to move north.


The Alborz Mountains stretching along the Caspian coast are covered in dense woods that meet low coastal lands in northern Iran. Paddies are everywhere, along with tea farms and gardens for many other water-intensive crops that are typically grown in the rainy provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran. But how long will this heaven last?

In the mountains close to the city of Masal in Gilan, the landscape is breathtaking. There are forests of moss-covered trees, with dense ferns and chamomile plants in abundance. Campers are the only visitors at this altitude, along with a small family of local nomads whose goats and cows graze in the high grasslands during the warm seasons.

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