Water Issues

currency exchange in Tehran

Iran currency dips to new low of 1.2M per dollar as sanctions bite: What to know

Since US President Donald Trump took office in January, the rial has plummeted.

sign

Turkey, Iraq sign oil-for-water deal: What to know

The landmark deal between Ankara and Baghdad sets out a finance mechanism to direct Iraqi oil proceeds into Turkish-built water infrastructure.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani review honor guards during the latter's official visit to Ankara, May 8, 2025.

Analysis

Water for influence: Turkey moves to ease Iraq's water shortages ahead of elections

Turkey took the step in a bid to ensure that relations with Iraq's current and future leaderships remain manageable after the vote.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

A general view shows the Samra Waste Water Treatment Plant, Zarqa, Jordan, March 13, 2018.

Analysis

Jordan’s water security caught between $5B megaproject, frayed Israel ties

Amman's efforts to tackle acute water challenges have delivered breakthroughs in 2025, while progress toward the end of the Gaza war could see revived interest in Israel-Jordan water ties.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Drought-stricken Iraq sends delegation to Turkey to discuss water cooperation

SABUR RASHID/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

RSF hits Darfur hospital as cholera, dengue fever spread in war-torn Sudan

A nurse treats a Dengue fever patient at a hospital in Omdurman, west of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Sept. 24, 2025.

Egypt steps up alarm on Ethiopia megadam as Sudan battles floods: What to know

A resident stands by belongings to salvage in a pool of water due to the flooding of the Nile river in the Sudanese village of Wad Ramli north of Khartoum on Oct. 1, 2025.

Wildfires ravage Syria’s Latakia for 4th day in row: What to know

Residents of the village of Shatha watch as a wildfire rages on the nearby hills, in the western Hama countryside in west-central Syria on Aug. 15, 2025.

Mansour Abbas, the head of the United Arab Party (Ra'am), meets with King Abdullah of Jordan in Amman, Nov. 9, 2021.

Arab-Israeli legislator meets king of Jordan

Having previously alerted Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Ra’am party chair Mansour Abbas met today in the royal palace in Amman with Jordanian King Abdullah II.

Israeli Economy Minister Orna Barbivai (R) and Jordanian Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Yousef Alshamali meet in Amman, Jordan, Nov. 3, 2021.

Israeli, Jordanian economy ministers sign West Bank export deal

In their meeting Nov. 3, Economy Minister Orna Barbivai and Jordanian Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Yousef Alshamali agreed to expand the list of materials and products Jordan could export to the West Bank.

Protestors hold placards and photographs as they shout slogans during a rally to denounce the Sudanese military coup.

Intel: Saudi Arabia, UAE publicly reject Sudan’s coup

Washington is trying to bring its Middle Eastern allies into line with international efforts to revive the transition to democracy in Khartoum.

Sudan's Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas (R) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Omar Gamar al-Din.

Sudan’s political crisis could complicate Nile dam dispute

Fears have arisen that the negotiation process over the Renaissance Dam will be affected by political tension in Sudan after its suspension from the African Union.

EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP via Getty Images

Egypt explores water projects with Somalia

Egypt is in talks with Somalia on water management aid for the drought-stricken country as Cairo builds up its influence in the Horn of Africa.

Sudanese security forces keep watch as they protect a military hospital and government offices during protests against a military coup.

The Takeaway: Sudan’s fragile economic stability at risk after military takeover

Saudi Arabia’s plan for “net-zero”; Turkey’s spy busts; Syria’s rebel factions; Egypt’s robot detention; fatwas on marital sex and bodybuilding; fishing for plastic in the Nile … all in about 1,500 words!

A general view shows the Samra Waste Water Treatment Plant in Zarqa, Jordan, March 13, 2018.

Israeli minister blames Netanyahu for jeopardizing ties with Jordan

For Energy Minister Karin Elharar, the accusations leveled by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Israel allegedly giving Jordan water for nothing in return, are simply fake news.

Rafi Ben Hakun/GPO

Israeli energy minister hails water agreement in Jordan

Israel’s Energy Minister Karin Elharar told Al-Monitor that the agreement she signed today doubling the water quantity supplied to Jordan is a sign of improving diplomatic relations between the two countries.

An Ethiopian Orthodox priest wafts incense during a prayer inside Bole Medhanialem church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on June 20, 2021.

Egypt strengthens influence in Africa through church

The Egyptian government is working through the Egyptian Orthodox Church in Africa, especially in the Nile Basin countries, as part of a soft power strategy to boost its influence in light of the crisis over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian speaks during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart following their meeting in Moscow on Oct. 6, 2021.

The Takeaway: Khamenei warns neighboring Azerbaijan over Israel ties

Egypt’s Nile encroachers; Morocco and Ethiopia; Turkey and Syria; Israel’s looming budget showdown; Lebanon’s zoo animals; Egyptian mummy faces revealed; Gilles Kepel talks with Alaa Alaswany — all in about 1,400 words!

This picture shows an aerial view of the Ard al-Berak water treatment plant on the northeastern outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, May 28, 2021.

Egypt inaugurates water plants in Sinai amid development plans

Egypt is advancing major projects and inaugurating water treatment plants to support development plans for the Sinai Peninsula.

This picture shows an aerial view of the "Tahya Masr" (Long Live Egypt) overpass crossing the Nile River island of Warraq (L) on the northern outskirts of Cairo from the district of Rod al-Farag in Cairo (top) into the district of Imbaba in Cairo's twin city of Giza (bottom) to connect with the ring-road highway circling greater Cairo, Egypt, May 14, 2021.

Egypt threatens to send military to remove encroachments along Nile

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi threatened to resort to the army to confront and remove illegal encroachments on the Nile, in addition to depriving the aggressor of government support provided to citizens, in tandem with mounting fears by the Egyptian government that its share of the Nile water will be prejudiced by the escalating Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis.