In yet another display of apparent paranoia, an Iranian general on Monday accused Israel of manipulating the weather to steal the Islamic republic’s clouds and snow and causing Iran’s longtime drought.
Brig. Gen. Gholam Reza Jalali, in charge of Iran’s civil-defense organization, made the claims at an agricultural conference in Tehran, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported.
“Joint teams from Israel and one of the neighboring countries make the clouds entering into Iran barren. Moreover, we are faced with the cases of cloud theft and snow theft,” he said.
Jalali did not name the other country he believed was stealing Iranian clouds and snow. He also said he believed that foreign interference was playing a role in climate change.
The head of Iran’s meteorological service quickly countered the general’s claims, although he admitted he may not have all the information, according to the British Daily Mail.
“[The general] probably has documents of which I am not aware, but on the basis of meteorological knowledge, it is not possible for a country to steal snow or clouds,” said Ahad Vazife. “Iran has suffered a prolonged drought, and this is a global trend that does not apply only to Iran. Raising such questions not only does not solve any of our problems, but will deter us from finding the right solutions.”
Jalali is not the first member of the Iranian government to suggest poor weather has been deliberately caused by other nations.
In 2011, then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Western countries of causing a drought in Iran. He also accused Western states of creating the HIV virus to weaken the developing world and create a market for pharmaceuticals.
Although the Iranian regime routinely threatens Israel with extermination, last month Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video to the Israeli Foreign Ministry Farsi-language channel, offering Israel’s cutting-edge water technology to the drought-stricken country.
The Iranian people “are victims of a cruel and tyrannical regime that denies them vital water,” Netanyahu says in the video shared via social media.
“Israel has the know-how to prevent environmental catastrophe in Iran. I want to share this information with the people of Iran. Sadly, Iran bans Israelis from visiting, so we’ll have to get creative. We will launch a Farsi website with detailed plans on how Iranians can recycle their wastewater. We will show how Iranian farmers can save their crops and feed their families,” he says.
“The people of Iran are good and decent. They shouldn’t have to face such a cruel regime alone. We are with you. We will help so that millions of Iranians don’t have to suffer. The hatred of Iran’s regime will not stop the respect and the friendship between our two peoples.”
The video racked up 5 million views in the first five days it was online, 1.6 million of them on Netanyahu’s own social-media channels.
