In light of recent heavy rains and major flooding in northern and western Iran, in which dozens have died so far, the Iranian news agency Tasnim, which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), published a special report titled "Are the Recent Heavy Rains in Iran Happening Intentionally?" According to Tasnim, the catastrophic rains and flooding are caused by manipulation of the weather by Iran's enemies – hinting at the U.S. and Israel – causing a drastic change in the weather and flooding unprecedented in the country's history.
This is not the first Iranian accusation of weather manipulation. In January 2010, the Kayhan daily, a regime mouthpiece, claimed that the "United States of Zionism" had caused that month's devastating earthquake in Haiti as well as that winter's severe cold across Europe, and that it was using sophisticated weapons disguised as the Alaska-based U.S. High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) with the aim of bringing down regimes.[1]
According to the Tasnim report, which is presented in the form of several episodes, the Jewish-American Warner Bros. company produces its futuristic films, such as the 2017 movie Geostorm, based on information it has about "the U.S.'s secret plans", a U.S. plan to control global climate. It added that senior IRGC official Brig.-Gen. Gholamreza Jalali, director of Iran's Passive Defense Organization, was correct when he stated, in the summer of 2018, that Israel had stolen clouds, rain and snow from Iran. It noted further that the timing of the current flooding, which began on the eve of Nowruz (Persian New Year) celebrations and the annual vacation taken by regime officials was no coincidence – proving intervention by a foreign hand.
The following is the translation of the main points of the Tasnim report:
"There are reasons for the heavy rains and flooding impacting Iran in recent days: They are the fruit of foreign climate manipulation.
"Episode A" – Warner Bros. Films Reflect America's Organized Plans For Climate Manipulation
"In recent days, we closely reviewed the 2017 American film Geostorm produced by Warner Bros. This company was founded 101 years ago, in 1918, by four Polish Jewish brothers – Harry, Sam, Albert, and Jack – who immigrated to the U.S. Most of this company's films are in the style of 'investigating the future' or 'predicting the future.' In truth, this company's network of researchers and producers know about many of the U.S.'s secret plans; they proceed in accordance with them, and they create the films with specific aims. The film presents an international plan launched by the U.S. under pressure from the international community. This plan includes the construction of a space station to impact the climactic system of the entire earth...
Tasnim (Iran), March 30, 2019.
"Beyond the style and content, the film conveys a special message: 'America has organized plans for climate manipulation that will be extremely destructive in light of their very extensive impact.' It is enough to use various types of accelerators or stimulators to influence some of the climate factors, and to make them extreme, in order to produce destructive results such as freezes, very high temperatures, torrential rains, [hailstorms with] huge hailstones, uncontrollable flooding, and unbalanced phenomena such as those caused by climate disruption."
"Episode B" – Passive Defense Organization Director Jalali: Israel Stole Iran's Clouds And Snow
"Gholamreza Jalali, director of Iran's Passive Defense Organization, is undoubtedly one of the most prominent and sharpest [members of] the top regime echelons in the sphere of Iranian strategic defense. We recall dozens of instances in which he protected the people from various disasters when all the other similar organizations were not [even] updated or were incapable of doing so. As an example of his successful efforts, we can point to his pioneering [role in warning] about matters such as genetic engineering of agricultural produce, [the dangers inherent in] the use of smartphones by senior regime officials, and [the need to] reinforce urban buildings against earthquakes. In light of this, we should look at his statements about climate and reactions to them as presented on the news:
"On July 2, 2018, Jalali said at the third national rally for passive defense in agriculture, held at the Institute for the Production and Improvement of Seeds and Seedlings: 'Changes in the climate in Iran are suspect, and it is feared [that they are caused by] foreign intervention. Studies conducted in Iran's scientific centers confirm this... Israeli teams, in collaboration with one of the neighboring countries are neutralizing the clouds headed for Iran. Likewise, we are encountering theft of our clouds and theft of snow'... The same day, Ahad Vazifeh, director-general of the forecast and warning division of the Iran Meteorological Organization, responded to this by saying, 'There is no way, according to meteorological [science], that a certain country can steal clouds or snow,' and added that he did not know what Jalali had based this statement on. He continued: 'Perhaps he found some document in the matter and I have not been brought up to date. But according to meteorological [science], there is no way that any country can steal clouds or snow'...
Jalali's 2018 statements (Source: Tasnim, Iran, March 30, 2019)
"It should be noted that this point of view pleased the foreign media, which gave it full coverage. The next day, July 3, 2018, [Iranian Environmental Organization director] Isa Kalantari, among the opponents of the 'climate war' [idea], responded to Jalali's statements, saying sarcastically: 'One [person] cannot speak on all subjects... The decrease in rainfall is not a political or an economic matter; it is a sheer technical and scientific issue.' On July 4, 2018, Davood Parhizkar, [then-] director-general of the meteorological organization, emphasized that '[Jalali's] statements have no scientific basis, because manipulating the weather cannot be done by man. Therefore, those who claim that there was theft of clouds need to prove their statements at a conference of experts.' [But] the Special Investigations Team of the Economic Division of the Tasnim news agency has proved, in the framework of a large project [launched] by Tasnim, called 'The Global Food War,' the reality of the 'climate war,' citing American scientist and meteorologist [Jim Lee].[2] This American expert on climate manipulation explained, 'We [Americans] have prevented rainfall on several occasions, such as during the Vietnam War, on the Cuban sugarcane fields, in China, and in the USSR. In light of this, if you think that there is no way to manipulate climate, you are simply naive.'
"Following the publication of this Tasnim investigation, there were two important developments: One was that the political and media discussions by opponents to the 'climate wars against Iran' theory stopped. The second was that [Environmental Organization director] Isa Kalantari admitted in an interview that he had no knowledge of this professional field and that he was only reflecting statements by experts'...
"This episode [of our report] raises three questions:
- Why do experts from [Iran's] meteorological organization lack knowledge about such an important matter as the 'climate war?'
- Why did [Iran's] meteorological organization conduct a media campaign in the days after Jalali made his statements, instead of verifying [whether there was] proof for them? It should be noted that the media uproar about Jalali's statements was fully covered by foreign media, and that they were pleased at this.
- The Shiraz flooding took place around noon on March 25, 2019 and killed 19 Iranians. Assuming that [Iran's] meteorological organization is the body that is expert in the climate field, why wasn't Shiraz named in the warnings it issued before the recent heavy rains began?... "
"Episode C" – The Floods Happened Because Of Climate Manipulation By Iran's Enemies
"There is an important point regarding the recent heavy rains that was ignored. Let us examine things from the very beginning: Anyone who has had the occasion to visit Shiraz knows that during Nowruz [the Iranian New Year celebrations] there is a long line [of vehicles] at the city's entrance, and people are occasionally held up for up to two hours. They are stuck with no way to get out. In these particular circumstances, if huge quantities of rainfall for twenty minutes, causing a flood, what can [these] people do?
A map of Iran's flood-risk regions published by IRNA and reproduced in the Tasnim article
"The floods in Golestan province were the result of a [storm] system that formed in the Gulistan region around Sunday, March 17, 2019. But the peak precipitation, especially in the city Aqqala, was on March 19-20, 2019 [on the eve of the New Year's vacation]. The IRNA news agency in Golestan wrote that 'heavy rainfall in eastern Golestan has caused the Golestan dam, located 15 km from the city of Gonbad-e Kavus, to overflow, and the region's rivers... to overflow their banks. As the recent winter storm began, more than 300mm of rain fell in Golestan province and the snow in the province's mountainous regions reached a height of 1.5 meters. The overflow from the Golestan 2 and Bustan dams, located in the higher regions, caused flooding along the Gorganrud river and in all cities and villages in the area.' Likewise, according to a report on the Tabnak website, 'over 315 mm of precipitation [were measured] in some [weather] stations [during the storm], although average annual rainfall in the district is 450 mm. In other words, 60% of the annual quantity fell in just 24 hours.'
"By March 25, 2019, the floods that continued in various parts of the country claimed the lives of 19 people in the city of Shiraz. These floods, the worst in 100 years, occurred precisely when two conditions prevailed:
- All government offices were shut [for the New Year's vacation]. The president was vacationing on Qeshm Island and the governor of Golestan was abroad. Those who remained at work in the meteorological forecast department of the meteorological organization were inaccurate [in their forecasts].
- The citizens were in a maximal state of defenseless in the face of these weather changes, such as those stuck in traffic at Shiraz's Quran Gate.
"The meaning of these two points is that, under these circumstances, when the state was at its weakest in terms of defense, a 'climate manipulation' could sow widespread destruction. It is noteworthy that the two aforementioned conditions are unique to these days of the year.
"Using a simple calculation based on the principles of probability, let us work out the probability of such rainfall occurring precisely during these days. Assuming that weight of the other variables, such as precipitation dispersion and past rain data, approaches zero, the probability of this unprecedented climatic imbalance occurring precisely on these seven days, when the country is at its most defenseless, is the following:
"The meaning of these numbers is that the probability of [such] unprecedented rainfall during these seven consecutive days in the week of March 19-25 is less than one to 160 billion. Experts call this zero.
"In conclusion:
"1. Even admitting that there is some chance that these rains were natural – by one calculation, a chance of 1 to 160 billion, i.e. zero – it is more plausible and reasonable [to assume] that this was climate manipulation [perpetrated] by the enemies, and the relevant authorities must, at the very least, put an investigation into the matter on their agenda.
"2. Whether or not we accept that these rains were enemy actions, the important point is that the arena of battle has long ago shifted from hard war – weapons and rockets on the battlefield – to the economic arena. In the future the shape of war will change [further] and will occur in arenas such as climate war [and] genetic war, and soft and semi-soft war will be waged by artificial intelligence, in [the fields of] politics, security, society and culture.
"Therefore, it seems that all the important bodies [tasked] with the issue of state security – the IRGC, the army, the Passive Defense Organization, the Intelligence Ministry, the Supreme National Security Council and the rest of the strategic national defense organizations – must take these types of war more seriously and attain the peak of scientific [knowledge] in these fields. True, there are signs that these bodies are already taking this approach, but they are still in the beginning of the road and they are not doing enough.[3]
[1] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 2782, Conspiracy Theories in Iranian Dailies: Al-Qaeda, Taliban Are Operational Wing of the U.S.; U.S. Caused Haiti Earthquake, January 31, 2010.
[2] See Tasnim (Iran), December 16, 2018.
[3] Tasnim (Iran), March 30, 2019.
