TEHRAN: Iranian authorities have launched cloud seeding operations to induce rainfall as the country faces its worst drought in decades, state media reported.

“Today, a cloud seeding flight was conducted in the Urmia Lake basin for the first time in the current water year,” which begins in September, the official IRNA news agency said late Saturday.

Urmia, in the northwest, is Iran’s largest lake, but has largely dried out and turned into a vast salt bed due to drought.

IRNA added that further operations would be carried out in the provinces of East and West Azerbaijan.

Cloud seeding involves spraying particles such as silver iodide and salt into clouds from aircraft to trigger rain.

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