Iraq is facing an acute water shortage amid a severe drought and a decrease in water inflows from neighboring countries, Mahdi Damad, an adviser to the country's agriculture ministry, told RIA Novosti.

According to him, in 2019, water reserves in Iraq had reached 65 billion cubic meters due to heavy rainfall, but currently the inflow of water from neighboring countries—in particular, from Iran and Turkey—is extremely less, and the amount of precipitation remains very low.

“The inability to supply drinking water to the provinces and the depletion of groundwater reserves pose a serious threat,” Damad said.

The adviser to the country's agriculture ministry stressed that Iraq needs to create a competent negotiating team to negotiate with neighboring countries and ensure the full amount of water resources for the country.

Iraqi authorities attribute the current water crisis not only to climate change, but also to the construction of dams by neighboring Turkey and Iran on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which play a vital role in supplying the Iraqi population with water.

Iraqi minister of water Resources Aoun Diab Abdullah has warned of a possible cessation of crop cultivation in the country due to acute water shortages.