In this picture taken on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2008. Vessels carrying passenger cars are being driven in the Lake Urmia, near the city of Urmia, West Azerbaijan province, northwest Iran. Prior to reduction of the water level of Lake Urmia by  8 meters and before construction of Shahid Kalantari Bridge, passengers used to be transported to the other side of the lake by vessels and boats. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019. An elderly couple spend their time as a young woman stands next to the Lake Urmia during a sunny day in the beach of Sharafkhaneh port, East Azerbaijan province, Northwest Iran. With the recent rainfall in the Northwest of Iran the level of water in the lake has increased temporarily in the northern part of the lake. After years people have come to Lake Urmia to spend some time on the beach in the last days of summer. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Friday, July. 29, 2011. Elderly couple walk through the Lake Urmia after use mineral black mud to treat their body in Islamic island or Jazireh Eslami beach, near Urmia city, West Azerbaijan province, Northwest Iran. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2007. Iranian men who are lying under a pile of salt in the Lake Urmia, in Gulmankhaneh beach, West Azerbaijan province, Iran. They have covered their body with the salt and lay on the salt bed of the lake. They believe that lying in the sun while being covered by the salt cures their joint problems. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Monday, Aug. 27, 2007. An Iranian elderly man stands with his cane. He and his son have rubbed lake slime on their body in Sharafkhaneh beach, Lake Urmia, on the outskirts of Shabestar city, East Azerbaijan province, Northwest Iran. Some people especially elderly people, in order to cure joint problems, rheumatism and some skin problems, rub the slime on their body and lay under the sun to let it dry. Then they rinse it. They used to visit Lake Urmia several times in the summer for treatment every year. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013. A young girl with hijab is standing on the solidified salts of the dried seabed in Gulmankhaneh beach, Lake Urmia, West Azerbaijan province, Iran. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Saturday Aug. 10, 2013. A muddy print of a man lying on the stiffened salt bed of the lake in Gulmankhaneh beach, Lake Urmia, West Azerbaijan province, Iran. Despite the fact that the lake has shrank, people still are visiting to benefit therapeutic properties of the lake using the mud. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015. A horse swing is seen on the playground near the beach, as recreational abandoned boats are stuck on the solidified salts of dried Lake Urmia in Bari beach on the outskirts of Urmia city, West Azerbaijan province, Northwest Iran. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Monday, Aug. 3, 2015. Iranian farmers harvest forage on their fields that is placed beside the dried bed of Lake Urmia, on the outskirts of Salmas city, West Azerbaijan province, Iran. Allocation of 90 percent of water resources to agriculture, high evaporation level sparked by climate change and illegal withdrawals of ground water resources are the reasons of drought. Experts say the death of Lake Urmia will endanger the ecosystem, agriculture and economic resources. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Tuesday, Dec.19, 2017. A general view of Rahmanlou port located in south east of the Lake Urmia, East Azerbaijan province, northwest Iran. This port which used to be the most beautiful touristic port is completely dry now and all of its facility is destroyed. Urmia is the biggest inland lake in Iran, the twentieth in terms of surface area and the second saltwater lake in the world but now it's at risk of drying up completely and water level has fallen by 8 meters over the past 20 years. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017. An Iranian railways employee stands among the rails, as he waits to coming repair workers and transporting them with draisine to repairing the railway that closed by sand and salt storm near the beach of dried lake Urmia in Sharafkhaneh port, East Azerbaijan province, Northwest Iran. In the past people used the train of Tabriz-Sharafkhaneh to coming the Lake Urmia in the last month of spring and all weekends of the summer, but due to drought the train was closed on this route. Now only freight trains and Tabriz-Turkey trains run on this route. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken behind the train window on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. Shows the ground troops of Iranian Army are preparing before the start of military maneuver, while an empty rocket launcher is seen in the dried seabed of the Lake Urmia near Rahmanlou port, southeast of the Lake, near the city of Ajabshir, East Azerbaijan province, northwest Iran. after drought of the Lake Urmia Iranian military forces use the Lake in their military maneuvers. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Tuesday, sept. 10, 2019. Head to- toe veiled rural women walk through a dried farm, as they go toward the old cemetery of Agh Gonbad village, beside the Lake Urmia, near Islamic island or Jazireh Eslami beach, on the outskirts of Urmia city, northwest Iran. With the recent rainfall in the Northwest of Iran the level of water in the lake has increased temporarily in the northern part of the lake but the farms of village were dried during a decade of drought. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Monday, Aug. 3, 2015. A cyclist is riding a motorcycle as he goes past a boat that is bmfilled with water next to the dried up lake in Agh Gonbad village, Urmia Lake, East Azerbaijan province, Iran. The boat is now used as trough for cows and sheep herd. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. A man warms himself next to a wood stove of rural cafe of Mohammad Azmoodeh, (unseen) which was waiting all day for coming a costumer in the village of Qalgachi on the edge of Lake Urmia, on the outskirts of Salmas city, west Azerbaijan province, northwest Iran. He says about the impact of lake droughts on their lifestyle as follow: "As a result of the drought, 100 households have migrated from the village to cities. In addition to the people of the village, previously many tourists and travelers used to come to our village for visiting the Lake and consequently to my cafe, For drinking tea. But now, apart from one or two villagers, I have no other customers. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. Taghi Taghizadeh 64, is looking to the buildings of his coastal motel in Gulmankhaneh beach of the Lake Urmia, on the outskirts of Urmia city, Northwest Iran. The motel which is destroyed due to the dryness of the Lake Urmia over time. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020. Swan-shaped rental pedal boats which lie in the garden of closed coastal motel in Gulmankhaneh beach of the Lake Urmia, on the outskirts of Urmia city, Northwest Iran. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015. Esmaeel Asgharzadeh, 26, from Agh-Gonbad village in Islamic island, Lake Urmia, West Azerbaijan province, Iran. Now he lives in a small connex near the Shahid Kalantari highway and serve as a security guard of a road machinery company. He talks about the effects of the lake dryness on his life: salt storms that sweep across the exposed lakebed hit residential areas. The trees have dried, the ground water is depleted and wells have ran out of water. Our lives are totally disrupted and there is no more water to feed sheep and cows. Prior the drought we had many tourists from different provinces of Iran so the business was very good for shopkeepers, but now, I have quitted my job and work as a security guard for a machinery company. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021. A sudden dust and salt storm passes by the agriculture lands beside the Danalou beach, on the outskirts of Ajabshir city, southestern parts of the Lake Urmia, East Azerbaijan province, Iran. The heavy flash dust and salt storm is coming from the dried seabed during windy days. The health and lives of the people in the region have been endangered due to dust and salt storm. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021. Iranian villager men ride their motorcycle on the way between Ajabshir and Danalou village, while the sudden dust and salt storm  surround every where on the outskirts of Ajabshir city, southeastern parts of the Lake Urmia, East Azerbaijan province, Iran. The heavy flash dust and salt storm with a speed of 110 kilometers per hour hit cities and villages around the dried Lake Urmia. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. A general view of the remains of saltwater of the dried lake in a channel which has been made for people to swim, in Sharafkhaneh port, Lake Urmia, East Azerbaijan province, Iran. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Friday, Aug. 21, 2009. An Iranian family try to scoop their car that has stuck in the mud in Rahmanlou beach. Lake Urmia has regressed 10 kilometers from the southern parts and has dried completely that Rahmanlou port is in that part. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Friday, July 29, 2011. A boy with salty skin holds a stick, as he plays with his shadow on the sands of the shore. he goes toward the tent of his family after swimming in the Lake Urmia, in Islamic island near the city of Urmia, west Azerbaijan province, northwest Iran. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. A hungry dog is sitting next to the road of Rahmanlou port, as the dog is waiting for someone to bring food for her and the little puppies. Due to drought, number of travelers and tourists to Rahmanlou port in the southeast of the Lake Urmia have decreased and the lives of animals in the region have been endangered due to shortages of food. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021. A man is sitting on the hill overlooking the dried Lake Urmia, as he looks to endless salt desert and the old wooden pier of Rahmanlou port, in southeast of the Lake, near the city of Ajabshir, East Azerbaijan province, northwest Iran. This port which used to be the most beautiful touristic port is completely dry now and all of its facility is destroyed. Urmia, one of the largest saltwater lakes on Earth, has shrunk more than 80 percent to 1,000 square kilometers (nearly 400 square miles) in the past decade. Experts fear the lake - famous in years past as a tourist spot and a favorite stopping point for migrating flamingos, pelicans and gulls - could disappear within couple of years if nothing is done. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. A general view of the Lake Urmia during the sunset, as the salts are seen in the beach of Sharafkhaneh port, East Azerbaijan province, Northwest Iran. Photo/Ali Hamed Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Friday, Sep.15, 2017. A  group of tourists go to visit the huge ship which is stuck on the solidified salts in the dried seabed of the Lake Urmia, beside Urmia-Tabriz highway in Islamic island beach, West Azerbaijan province, Iran. This ship used to carry passengers from east to west coast before the construction of Shahid Kalantari highway and Lake Urmia Bridge. Some environment experts believe that building the highway and Shahid Kalantari Bridge are the main factors that caused the lake to shrink. The highway has stopped the natural circulation of water in the Lake Urmia. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

The picture taken on Friday, July 31, 2015. A group of people walking inside the dried Lake Urmia in Islamic island beach, West Azerbaijan province, Iran. In order to get to the little remaining water of the lake, they need to walk 2 km on the salty ground which was once part of the lake. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust

In this picture taken on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013. A man is stuck in the black mud under the solidified salts of Gulmankhaneh beach, Lake Urmia, West Azerbaijan province, Iran. Photo/Ali Hamed Haghdoust