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.

Youths dive into the water at the entrance of a canal near the Nile river delta barrages at the town of Qanater al-Khayreya north of the capital on May 3, 2021 during the holiday of Sham al-Nessim, a Pharaonic feast that marks the start of spring, which this year coincides with the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Can Egypt avoid being harmed by second filling of Nile dam?

Egypt’s foreign minister says Cairo can compensate for the second filling of Ethiopia’s controversial dam on the Blue Nile as a result of the projects the Egyptian government is implementing to confront water scarcity, but other officials beg to differ.

The container ship Ever Given is seen at the Suez Canal on March 28, 2021, in Suez, Egypt. Work continues to free the Ever Given, a huge container ship stuck sideways in Egypt's Suez Canal. Dredgers have been working on the port side of the ship in an attempt to remove sand and mud and dislodge the vessel. The Suez Canal is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and the blockage has created a backlog of vessels at either end, raising concerns over the impact the accident will have on global shipping and

Egypt to deepen, widen Suez Canal after blockage

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has approved a project to widen and deepen the southern stretch of the Suez Canal, where a giant vessel blocked the strategic maritime artery for nearly a week in March.

An aerial picture shows workers using a crane to plant trees in a park project by the roadside in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on March 29, 2021. Although the OPEC kingpin seems an unlikely champion of clean energy, the "Saudi Green Initiative" aims to reduce emissions by generating half of its energy from renewables by 2030.

Saudi Arabia plans to plant 10 billion trees in the desert

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s tree-planting program raises environmental awareness, helps society reconnect to nature and creates employment opportunities for rural communities.

LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images

Congo proposes new initiative to break Nile dam deadlock

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the current chair of the African Union, has submitted a new initiative to resolve the ongoing dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Members of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), made up of an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, look toward the Jaabar Castle as they sit on a boat at Lake Assad, an enormous reservoir created by the Tabqa dam, on April 29, 2017.

Syrian government calls on Turkey to release Euphrates water

The Syrian government and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) accuse Turkey of being behind the dramatic drop in water levels flowing into Syria, something that could spell a major economic and environmental crisis.

A general view of the the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba in Ethiopia, on Dec. 26, 2019.

UAE offers to mediate Nile dam dispute in name of Red Sea security

Can the United Arab Emirates succeed where others have failed in bringing Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt to terms over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam?

Jeffrey Feltman and Sudanese foreign minister

Will renewed US diplomacy help solve Nile dam dispute?

Washington has renewed its attempts to resolve the dispute over Ethiopia’s controversial Nile dam, with the US envoy for the Horn of Africa making stops in Egypt and Sudan.

This picture shows an aerial view of the Nile River passing by the town of Dendera in the southern province of Qena, Egypt, April 10, 2021.

Egypt seeks alternatives to possible Nile water loss from Ethiopian dam

Egypt’s Irrigation Ministry revealed four projects designed to reduce water waste, combat the growing need for water and help ease the negative effects of the GERD on its irrigation system.

Displaced Syrian boys carry water back to their tent at a camp for the internally displaced near the town of Sarmada in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on July 29, 2020, as Muslims across the world are getting ready to celebrate Eid al-Adha.

Camp residents in northwest Syria struggle to secure clean water

Some camp residents in northwestern Syria lack clean water, and despite all the efforts made by organizations in this field, some still find it difficult to obtain drinking water, especially with the approaching summer season.

Van Hollen and Coons

Intel: Biden dispatches US senators to forge further ties with Sudan

Two US senators met with Sudan’s interim leaders in Khartoum on Tuesday as the Biden administration seeks to forge lasting ties with the new government.

Washington Pulse

Afwerki and al-Burhan

Eritrean president meets Sudan leaders over border dispute

Eritrea is seeking to defuse allegations that it has aided Ethiopia in its border dispute with Sudan,

This combination of pictures taken on May 5, 2021, shows (L to R) leader of Israel's Yesh Atid (There Is a Future) party Yair Lapid, and leader of the Yamina (Right) party Naftali Bennett, arriving at the Israeli president's residence in Jerusalem.

The Takeaway: Could a Bennett-Lapid coalition last in Israel?

Fractious politics makes for unstable governance; the scoop on Biden’s meeting with Israel’s Mossad chief; Gulf rethinks Chinese vaccine policies; more Egyptian mummies; Saudi Arabia; Turkey; and more!