Scientists and national meteorological officials are rejecting claims that the United States, Israel, and allied countries have been “stealing clouds” or manipulating the weather to create drought in parts of the Middle East, saying no such technology exists. “These claims are neither scientific nor logical,” said Amer al-Jabri of Iraq’s Meteorological Service, who added that assertions tying recent rains to wartime disruptions in alleged weather operations are “unscientific and illogical,” BBC News.
The rebuttals follow a burst of conspiracy theories that attempted to link sudden heavy rainfall across Iran, Iraq, and Turkey to regional conflict and airspace closures. As fighting escalated and air corridors were restricted, social media posts alleged that cloud seeding aircraft used by the US and its allies had been grounded, causing “stolen” rains to return. Some users claimed Iran’s drought ended only because the US was preoccupied with the war. Others connected the surge in precipitation to Turkey’s rainiest February in 66 years, asserting without evidence that closed skies prevented clouds from being diverted. In Iraq, MP Abdullah el-Haykani repeated allegations on television that “atmospheric modifier weapons” had been deployed to deliberately induce drought, and he further argued that rainfall returned because the US was distracted by the conflict, offering no proof.
Changes anticipated before conflict
Weather experts in Iraq countered that seasonal and long-range forecasts already anticipated a wetter pattern. Projections made last September indicated that 2026 would be a rainy year for Iraq, months before hostilities escalated on February 28.
Scientists underscore that there is no known method to “steal” or relocate clouds. Current weather modification efforts focus on techniques such as cloud seeding, which attempt to enhance precipitation only when suitable clouds are already present. The approach typically involves dispersing particles like silver iodide to encourage droplet formation and can sometimes increase rainfall in a targeted area, but it does not enable control over regional or intercontinental weather systems.
In 2011, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad alleged that Western states had used advanced technologies to cause drought in Iran. In 2018, former National Security Council chief Saeed Jalili claimed Israel had “sterilized the clouds of Iran and a neighboring country.”
Meteorologists in Turkey emphasized the limited scope and impact of cloud seeding and similar interventions. Professor Dr. Orhan Şen said the practice is a local measure that can affect an area of at most 100 kilometers, with a potential precipitation increase in the range of 15–20%. He said it cannot alter large-scale systems moving in from the west, the Mediterranean, or the north. He said the country’s recent rainfall is linked to natural air flow patterns and a weakening of high pressure over the North Atlantic, not to any conflict-related factor.