Thousands of industrial units and hundreds of thousands of families across Iran are grappling with a deepening energy crisis that goes far beyond what can be described as a mere “blackout.” During one of the hottest months of the year, rolling power and water outages have become a daily ordeal—crippling production lines, shuttering businesses, and endangering public health.
While households face multiple electricity and water cuts every day, factories are grinding to a halt one after another. The crisis has escalated into a significant threat not only to the national economy and employment but also to food security and emergency services.
The consequences are even more severe in deprived regions. The closure of small and medium-sized factories not only halts local production but also accelerates unemployment, deepens poverty, and heightens social unrest. At the same time, the economic gap between wealthy capital owners and struggling small producers widens with each passing day.
Numerous accounts from across the country reveal that household power cuts now occur as often as three to four times a day. When the power goes out, water pumps, telecommunications towers, and internet infrastructure all fail—paralyzing communication and emergency services. This is especially dangerous amid extreme heat, posing serious health risks for the elderly and chronically ill.
In Tehran’s Abbas Abad district, residents are enduring the third consecutive day without water. Locals report that daily life has come to a complete halt. With no access to clean water and temperatures rising, they warn of looming health disasters. “If this continues,” one resident noted, “illness—and even death—among the elderly is inevitable.”
