In ancient times the Iranians were geniuses at water management. They dug underground tunnels called qanats, that could carry water for miles without evaporation. And they built the air vents in ways that kept the water cold, too. Look how far they have fallen!
Probably the lack of water had same natural causes then as now, but of course, now there’s a larger population. In his Alex the Great docu, Michael Wood visited and described the geographical boundary (”Alexander’s Wall”) between the Middle East and Asia, with the drinkable wells on the south and west, and the brackish wells on the Asian side. Took me some spot checkin’, but it’s near the end of episode 2. 😊
The old Iranians were experts at bringing irrigation water out to grow varieties of melons and watermelons.