In this picture taken on Sunday, March 13, 2016, Farms around the Sarhaddi Mirhossein village located in central part of Zabol. Trees on the ground, dried up due to the drought. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Sunday, March 13, 2016, Fatemeh Hashemi, 32, is standing in his small room in Sarhaddi Mirhossein village located in central part of Zabol. She says: I'm a household and I help my husband with farming. I married Gholamreza Shakib 43 years older than me 8 years ago, and it was his third marriage. Now we have two sons together. I feel old in my 30s dealing with leg and back pain. I am really tired of living in this small house which we have no money to build and repair it. I've tried to change the view of it by covering the walls by these plastics. It’s been several months since I applied to Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation and despite my frequent calls they have never answered. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Sunday, March 13, 2016, Sarhaddi Mirhossein village located in central part of Zabol, front door curtain of Fatemeh Hashemi’s small house is seen which Mustafa, Fatemeh’s little son is hiding behind it. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, Deh Now village located in the Nimrooz city, Sistani girl Zahra Poudine Aghaei, 13 is standing under the name of Hazrat-e Fatemeh Zahra written by coins. Fatemeh Zahra is the daughter of Islam’s prophet Muhammad and spouse of Ali, first Imam of Shias and the role model of all Muslim women in the world. So many of Muslims name their daughters after her. Zahra whose parents had separated, living in poverty and difficulties forced her to marry Meitham Sarfejou, 4 years older than her and forced to drop out of school due to his husband’s disagreement. Age of marriage in some cities and villages of Sistan and Baluchistan is lower than other places and most of girls and boys get married at the age of 12 to 20. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Saturday, March 12, 2016, Khamrabad-e Mirzang village located near Zabol, a door is seen from a distance which a woman’s face has painted on it and the Persian word “Eshgh” or “love” written below. Some young people write romantic phrases on the walls of the villages. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Sunday, March 13, 2016, Deh Gholaman village located in the central part of Zabol, Sistani farmer Javad Piri 30, is standing in front of his house with his son Hadi, he says: The major requirements for growing wheat are water supplied from rain or artificial lakes, good weather and proper fertilizer. But in case of heat and drought, all our products will be destroyed. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Sunday, March 13, 2016, Deh Gholaman village in central part of Zabol, Sistani farmer, Javad Piri's yard. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Sunday, March 13, 2016, Tappeh Dez village located in the central part of Zabol, Baluch woman Mahganj Ravazeh, 28, mother of two is carrying her child, Soda 1.5, and standing in front of her small house, she says: my husband Ahmad Shoja' Hormozzehi who was a farmer before, lost his job due to the drought and now he is working in an automobile repair shop but the income is not enough for us and we live in poverty. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Sunday, March 13, 2016, Tappeh Dez village located in the central part of Zabol, a view of back yard of the Baluch family, Shoja' Hormozzehi's house is seen. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Saturday, March 12, 2016, Deh Arbab village located near the Banjar region in the outskirt of Zabol, Sistani farmer Rezvan Arbabi 70, carrying a shovel on his shoulder and standing in front of a house with a traditional architecture and says: I grow barley, garlic, onion and etc, But all of our efforts are squandered due to the drought. The slight amount of water transferred from Afghanistan gets dried up after a few days and it does not solve any of our problems. Moreover, the dust storm is a double whammy. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Sunday, March 13, 2016, Deh Arbab village located near Banjar region in outskirts of Zabol, dried farms around the village. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Saturday, March 12, 2016, Hossein Abad-e Jor village located in the central part of the outskirts of Zabol, Sistani farmer, Mostafa Azaran Nejad, 29 is seen behind the dead tree branches. He says: For a long time we’ve been dealt with the heat and drought and we only want to have enough water for our farms and see the result of our efforts. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Friday, March 11, 2016, The dry lake bed of Hamoon next to the mount Khajeh located 30 km from southwest of Zabol, a group of duck are seen behind the tamarix plant, moving toward the remains of Hamoon lake. Hamoon lake is dried up due to the severe and frequent droughts and after Helmand river stopped flowing into it. Hamoon lake consists of three parts: hamoon-e poozak in northeast, hamoon-e saberi in north and hamoon-e hirmand in west and southwest of Sistan and the total capacity of it is 6 billion cubic meters. The lake marginal plants such as taramix are seen as a desert afforestation project of department of natural resources in Sistan. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, Market in the city of Zahak, Sistani tailor, Reza Nejati 60, has men’s traditional costumes of Sistan and Baluchistan region in his hands, he says: Nobody cares for the people of Sistan and I don’t know why. People choose their own relatives because of the greed for power and monopoly and ignore the qualified ones. Saadi, Persian poet has said that “Human beings are members of a whole. In creation of one essence and soul” but why everything is in the hands of a few ones? Here we all are facing the problems but some people belie the fact; for example if we encounter the flood they pretend water has started flowing again in Sistan which we know that this city has dried up since 20 years ago. If we didn’t have even these Chah Nimeh, this corner of Iran would become a heap of ruins. Despite of the problems, people don’t want to leave here, but the youth are attracted to addiction as a result of poverty and Unemployment. We have no shoulder to cry on and nobody cares about us. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Saturday, March 12, 2016, Clothing store in the city of Zabol, a poster of Imam Ali is seen among men’s traditional costumes of Sistan and Baluchistan. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Monday, March 14, 2016, The forth Chah Nimeh artificial lake located near the Zahak city, Sistani fisherman, Reza Ebrahimi, 60 is standing in front of his straw house, he says: I’ve been fishing for 25 years in Hamoon lake before the drought and now in Chah Nimeh. We’ve been dealing with the problems and unemployment. The government does not answer about not handling our bad situation. Do they want the fishermen to leave here? God knows. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Monday, March 14, 2016, the forth Chah Nimeh artificial lake located near Zahak city, Sistani fishermen’s power boats in the shore of lake are seen. Chah Nimehs are big natural pits which are located 50 km from Zabol and 5 km from Zahak. The extra water of Hirmand river is transferred to it by a channel. The capacity of these pits is 700 million cubic meters which has turned them to artificial lakes however the whole capacities of them is as much as one seventh of Hamoon lake at best. The water needed for drinking and farming is supplied by these artificial lakes at the time of water scarcity. It is worth mentioning that the water amount of them is decreased due to the frequent droughts in recent years and this region will face serious environmental and international threats. Lack of drinkable water would make a deep trouble if transferred water from Afghanistan flood into the region. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, local livestock market in the outskirts of Zabol, Sistani cattleman Naser Shahriari, 40, is standing among the livestock. He says: Livestock market has been depressed as a result of drought, government’s inattention and lack of pastures. Not only are the villages emptied of life, but also the cities are not in a good situation and are full of misery. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, Outskirt of Nimrooz city, a Sistani shepherd is passing through a dry land with his flock. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Friday, March 11, 2016, Shore of Hamoon lake near the mount Khajeh located 30 km from southwest of Zabol, Sistani teacher, Reza Hakimi is staning in the shore of Hamoon lake: Hamoon which was the source of joy and vitality, has dried up since 17 years ago. Hamoon as the source of haze and dust storm has caused all the environmental problems in the region. These days not only is Hamoon experiencing drought, but also the people are suffering from lung diseases too. The lake as the lung of Sistan influences our lives in many ways and would make more troubles in result of global warming and greenhouse gases. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Friday, March 11, 2016, Abandoned pleasure boats  are seen on the shore of dried up lake Hamoon near to the mount Khajeh 30 km from southwest of Zabol. Number of tourists who visits the mount Khajeh and Hamoon lake is decreasing since the drought. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Sunday, March 13, 2016, Abbaszadeh, Sistani family is gathered in front of their old house located in Sarhaddi Mirhossein village in center of Zabol to take a picture. The villagers of Sistan live in extended families. They all live together in a big house with multiple rooms and this shows the importance of family in their culture. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.

In this picture taken on Friday, March 11, 2016, Ghal'e Now village located 26km from southeast of Zabol and 5 km from Zahak city. General view of the village with traditional and unique texture that can be seen from the top of the hill. Most of the houses are abandoned in result of forced migration and has been destroyed over time. Ghal'e Now is the only village in Sistan and Baluchistan which its houses are completely built of mud in the old characteristic style. Most of the old houses in Sistan and Baluchistan are made of traditional materials including water and mud inspired by eastern architecture. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust.