BOJNOURD, Khorasan Province A severe drought, which has hit Iran for the third successive year, has wrought havoc on livestock in the northeastern Province of Khorasan, the deputy head of the Provincial Agricultural Jihad here said Wednesday.

He said that the number of chickens in the province has declined to 18 million this year from 21 million in 1999 due to the drought.

According to the same official, drought is currently threatening 12 million heads of livestock as well as some 600,000 heads of cattle in the province.

About 53,300 heads of camel are also exposed to the threat, he said, adding the drought has led to a sharp decline in the production of red meat in the province. Iran is in the midst of severe drought conditions that have hit the country for a third year in a row and which cost the country 3.5 billion dollars last year. A UN official has put this year's loss at 2.5 billion dollars.

Deputy Energy Minister Gholamreza Manouchehri recently announced water rationing in 30 cities in the southern, eastern and central Provinces of Sistan-Baluchestan, Isfahan, Fars, Bushehr, Kerman, Khorasan and Tehran.

Early this year, officials predicted that 12 of Iran's 28 provinces would be affected by a severe drought, including the capital Tehran which started water rationing in the first week of June.

A UN official recently said that Iran is the worst-hit country in the region, adding that the effects of this year's drought are far more destructive than those in previous years.

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 and increased Iran's dependency on food imports.

Reserves in three dams that provide 60 percent of Tehran's supply have reportedly shrunk to dangerously low levels and officials have warned that Iranian dams, supplying water and electricity, may dry in 90 days.