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.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry speaks during a press conference with his Sudanese and Ethiopian counterparts, on the sidelines of meetings to announce they had reached an agreement on the sharing of Nile waters and Ethiopia's dam project, Khartoum, Sudan, March 6, 2015.

Egypt’s trade with Nile Basin countries jumps amid Ethiopia dam crisis

Cairo’s exports and imports with the region increased substantially in 2021, but they still represent a small portion of the total and growth remains uneven.

A trailer truck filled with sand waits near a dock at the construction site of new residential towers on the Nile island of Warraq in Giza province, opposite the northern shore of Cairo, the slums of which are planned for development by the Egyptian government, Egypt, Aug. 31, 2022.

Egypt embarks on new plans to develop river transport on Nile River

Cairo has recently passed legal reforms to reorganize the river sector, which still remains marginal, in hopes this will catalyze much-needed private investments

A fisherman tries to catch a freshly caught tilapia fish in a boat on the Nile River in the village of Gabal al-Tayr, north of the southern city of Minya, Egypt, Nov. 13, 2019.

Egypt to increase fish production at Lake Bardawil

Egypt is to develop one of the most important lakes in the north to ramp up its fish production and improve the economy in the northern Sinai Peninsula.

A picture shows the UAE's al-Badia Farms in Dubai, an indoor vertical farm using innovative hydroponic technology.

Another vertical farm comes to Saudi Arabia

Vertical farming has great potential to help alleviate rising desertification in the Middle East, which could threaten the region’s food supply in the future.

Delegates gather at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Center in Egypt.

Egypt, Israel seek to boost trade exchange following COP27

Israel offered Egypt to develop rice cultivation using the latest technologies and curb the water shortage crisis in Cairo, within the framework of the two countries’ efforts to increase trade exchange.

Bradley D’coutho

Israel, Jordan sign first environmental agreement at COP27

The environmental agreement signed yesterday between Israel and Jordan is the first such development ever between the two countries.

Israel's Ministry for Environmental Protection

Israeli environment minister strives for regional cooperation at COP27

Outgoing Minister for Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg calls on the new Israeli government not to give in to small politics, but continue engagement to battling climate change, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing plastic pollution.

Ahmad lies in his hospital bed on his sixth day of treatment at Halba's government hospital in Akkar.

Lebanon begins vaccination campaign as cholera cases soar

The crisis-hit country’s collapsing water and sewage infrastructure has opened a breeding ground for waterborne illness.

C0P27

Israel, Jordan, UAE press ahead on deal for water, solar energy

Israel, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have inked a memorandum of understanding to speed progress on a deal to exchange solar energy for desalinated water.

A worker carries a bale of wheat during the harvest in the village of Bamha near al-Ayyat in Egypt's Giza province.

Egypt to plant wheat in Congo amid water shortage

Egypt plans to cultivate 20,000 hectares of land in Mossendjo city in the Republic of Congo with strategic crops such as wheat.

An Iranian Turkman worker packages beluga caviar.

Iran renews ban on sturgeon fishing

The endangered fish is used to make caviar. Israel also has a strong caviar export industry.

Israel Barbivai

Israel, Turkey promote increasing bilateral trade

On an official visit to Turkey, Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbivai met with her counterparts, advancing the re-convening of the joint economic conference.