Iran finalises a first-ever rural water stress budget line, with murabaha sukuk financing to start next week

Hamidreza Janbaz, Iran's deputy energy minister for water and wastewater, said on Monday, August 3, 2026, at a meeting of water and power managers in Zanjan province that for the first time, and with the backing of provincial governors, a budget line titled "rural water stress" has been finalised in the relevant parliamentary commission and will be the main funding source for rural water supply projects.

He said technical projects in Zanjan province received only 50 percent of their budget allocation last year and zero allocation this year. Janbaz said that with the necessary approvals obtained from the Planning and Budget Organization and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, funding for these schemes will come from murabaha sukuk, with issuance by the banking network starting next week.

He added that although rainfall is 5 percent above the normal year, dams in Zanjan province hold only 18 percent of their capacity. Full cash allocation has been promised for key projects including the Mashampa dam, the Marash dam and the Talvar dam water transfer line.