TEHRAN The United Nations resident coordinator in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Francesco Bastagli, Tuesday warned that the drought in Iran, which will continue into its third year, could cause widespread water shortages, loss to the agriculture and livestock sector and to the wildlife.

"Recent precipitation figures are cause for serious concern," said Bastagli adding, "the UN is in regular contact with national authorities and is monitoring the situation closely."

The warning comes in the wake of an announcement last week by Rasoul Zargar, deputy minister of energy for water resources who predicted water crises for 12 of the country's 28 provinces.

Precipitation figures indicate that the drought will continue in eastern, southern and central provinces including Sistan-Baluchestan, Hormozgan, Bushehr, Kerman and vast regions in Isfahan, Khorasan and Fars, said a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) here on Tuesday.

While the drought this year is affecting fewer regions, its impact will be far greater in communities which have not recovered from the losses of the two previous years, it said.

According to Zargar, reserves in Tehran's main sources of potable water, the Karaj, Latian and Lar dams, in addition to Sefid Roud (Rasht), Zayandeh Roud (Isfahan), and Doroudzan (Shiraz) are only 50 percent of resource available at the same time last year.

Recurring droughts are a harsh reality in this part of the world, where 13 of the past 20 years have been drought years.

"Our priority is to support the government's efforts in finding long-term solutions to this recurring phenomenon, including clearly defined strategies for the conservation and use of the nation's precious water resources," said Bastagli.

As part of ongoing UN efforts, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) last week conducted a high-level mission to evaluate the drought's implications on food security. The mission also looked into establishing early warning systems in Iran based on FAO's Global Information and Early Warning Systems (GIEWS) for food and agriculture.

A second FAO mission will assist the Islamic Republic of Iran with the preparation of a project outlining a national strategy on drought preparedness and mitigation.

Later this year, UNDP and Iran will host a meeting of governmental and UN experts and officials from Afghanistan, India, Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan. The meeting which is scheduled to take place in Yazd in late August will provide a venue to exchange information among the countries in the sub-region to promote coordination and to identify practical measures for drought management.

(IRNA)