TEHRAN – Very heavy rain which was unprecedented in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province over the past 60 years has left two dead.

Average rainfall of 26.5 millimeters was recorded on Tuesday in the desert city of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan, equaling 30 percent of annual precipitation in the city, IRIB reported.

The highest volume of rainfall, tantamount to 65 millimeters, was registered in the city of Konarak.

Twenty percent of areas across Iran are highly prone to flooding.

On July 23, a devastating flood in the city of Estahban, southern Fars province, left 22 people dead.

Twenty percent of areas across Iran are highly prone to flooding, Khosro Shahbazi, former head of the Forests, Range, and Watershed Management Organization, said in January 2020.

According to statistics, the average rainfall in the country in the last 50 years has been 270 mm, which has decreased by 230 mm, in other words, over the past 5 decades, the average rainfall has dropped by 40 mm.

According to the World Meteorological Organization's multiannual forecast, in the next five years, Iran’s average rainfall will decline by 75 percent, and the temperature rises by 50-75 percent compared to the long-term average.

MG