First rain of autumn falls in Iran’s capital after months of intense drought

Rain fell for the first time in months in Iran’s capital on Wednesday, providing a brief respite amid an intense drought.

“I’m very happy. When I stepped outside this morning, I suddenly felt joyful,” said Tehran resident Jafar Seyed Esmaili. “It really lifted my spirits.”

Meteorologists have described this autumn as Iran’s driest in over 50 years, further straining a system that expends vast amounts of water inefficiently on…