Tehran is running out of water. Residents of Iran's capital city are working to "stave off catastrophe" brought about by climate change and resource mismanagement. The crisis could threaten an Islamic regime already struggling in the aftermath of conflicts with Israel and the U.S.

The city of 10 million people could be "weeks away" from a "day zero" in which "taps run dry for large parts of the city," said CNN. Urgent decisions are needed, or "we will face a situation in the future that cannot be solved," said President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday. On top of a severe drought, the water supply crisis has been compounded by "excessive groundwater pumping, inefficient farming practices, and unchecked urban water use," said CNN. 

"Water shortages and collapsing public trust" are creating a "perfect storm" for Iran, said AL-Monitor. The government is taking emergency action, but many Iranians see those moves as "signs of panic, not planning," from what's already regarded as a "broken system." 

What did the commentators say?
Iranians find themselves in a "daily struggle against a regime that has failed them for decades," said Dana Sameah at The Jerusalem Post. The country's social media channels have been "flooded" with images of "desperate farmers and business owners" in distress over the "loss of their livelihoods." 

Does that mean regime change is in sight? There's no "organized political force" capable of leading a revolt, said The Jerusalem Post. But a regime that cannot get water to its citizens "knows deep down that its time is running out."

"A thirsty Iran provides an opening for the U.S.," said Janatan Sayeh at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The scarcity of water has previously "triggered unrest" throughout the country. Washington has an opportunity to "demonstrate alignment with the Iranian people" against a government responsible for the country becoming "increasingly uninhabitable."

What next?
The water crisis comes as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader, is "fading into the shadows," said The Economist. The 86-year-old has largely receded from public view since Israel's 12-day bombing campaign earlier this summer. That leaves "actors inside and outside the regime jostling for position." 

But time is running out, said Reuters. Without cooperation from Iranians to conserve water, Pezeshkian said yesterday, "there won't be any water in dams by September or October."

China is able to control a large portion of global trade despite factors like sanctions and tariffs. One explanation for this is its use of "dark fleets" or "shadow fleets," ships that operate in secrecy and often give China a significant price advantage over its competitor countries.

What are dark fleets?
These ships operate off the grid, "evading compliance with safety or environmental regulations, avoiding insurance costs or engaging in other illegal activities," said the International Maritime Organization. Most of them "use tactics designed to hide their location or the origin" of their products, said The Guardian. 

Tactics include navigation gaps "created by switching off a vessel's automatic identification system transponder," "ship-to-ship transfers in international waters away from scrutiny," and "'flag hopping,' or altering a ship's country of registration," Michelle Wiese Bockmann, a senior analyst at Lloyd's List Intelligence, said to The Guardian. Many of these ships are "past their prime and considered unsafe." 

How does China use them?
China transports oil from other countries to circumvent sanctions, mainly involving Iranian oil. Since the U.S. has placed sanctions on buying Iranian oil, the oil China gets from Iran is "transferred from ship to ship at sea and relabeled as coming from Malaysia or Oman," said NPR. It's eventually "brought to small, private refineries in China," and the "willingness of such refineries in China to defy American sanctions on buying Iranian oil has been an economic lifeline for Tehran."

China partakes in the practice because it "needs this fuel, which is discounted from international benchmarks, to supply its manufacturing sector and prop up its flagging oil refineries," said The Washington Post. But the poor condition of most of the dark fleet ships "increasingly threatens the safety of international sea lanes." 

Oil is not the only product that China takes advantage of with its dark fleets. There are also "networks propping up Chinese squid fleets accused of illegal fishing off South America," said Newsweek. These vessels "operate in international waters" and are "virtually unmonitored, increasing the risk of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and labor abuses."