TEHRAN The Iranian authorities in the second largest city of Mashhad have warned of "increasing the water cut period" as water shortage is said to have hit a "critical" state.

"The production and reserve of drinking water in this holy thickly-populated (2.5-million-people) city has become more critical over the past two weeks," Mohammadreza Akbarzadeh, general manager of Mashhad Water and Sewage Company, told IRNA Thursday.

"The only solution to the crisis is lingering the water cut period in each district from a current five hours a day to eight hours a day," he said.

He noted that the water reserves have declined by 80 percent, adding hot weather has aggravated the problem.

Elsewhere, some 100,000 farmers in Isfahan have lost their jobs on account of the severe drought which has hit Iran for the third successive year, provincial governor Heydar Qassemi said Thursday.

The number of jobless farmers above stated indicates that some 65 percent of the whole population in one district of the city are without jobs, he said, adding that total loss could come up to more than 350 billion rials.

Crops in the city have died after the famous Zayandeh Roud, an often-visited site for tourists which cuts through Isfahan, has almost dried up.

Police recently detained 44 people who participated in violent demonstrations against the water shortage in the city.

Deputy energy minister Gholamreza Manouchehri said Wednesday that water has been rationed in 30 cities in the southern, eastern and central provinces of Sistan-Baluchestan, Isfahan, Fars, Bushehr, Kerman, Khorasan and Tehran.

Water has been rationed in 12 cities in Bushehr province, as it has been in 10 cities in Sistan-Baluchestan as well as all cities in the desert areas of Kerman and Isfahan, he added.

Officials early this year predicted that 12 of Iran's 28 provinces were to be affected by a severe drought, including the capital Tehran which started water rationing as early as the first week of June.

Iran, suffering under a crippling drought for the third successive year, has rationed water in 30 cities including the capital Tehran.

Officials early this year predicted that 12 of Iran's 28 provinces are expected to be affected by the severe drought, including the capital Tehran which is starting to experience the first signs of water rationing for the first time.

A UN official recently said that Iran is worst hit by the drought in the region, adding its effects were far destructive than the previous years.

A UN report on Iran drought, the official said, indicated a "dark picture" of the prevailing drought in Iran, saying the country should start devising comprehensive plans to fight it.

Last year the drought which hit the country destroyed about three million tons of wheat and barley as well as a million heads of livestock, increasing Iran's dependency on food imports.