Amid the Iran war, Iraqi MP Abdullah Al-Kaikhani has accused the US and Israel of “stealing clouds” in the Middle East. In an interview, Abdullah Al-Kaikhani claimed that the US and Israel have, for many years, been using aircraft to steal clouds in the Middle East. He said this was the reason the region had been experiencing prolonged drought. The MP further alleged that now, since the US and Israel are busy in a war with Iran, rainfall has returned again. After his statement surfaced, discussions and rumours about the claim have intensified on social media. Weather experts have said that no such technology exists that could allow the “theft of clouds”. A spokesperson for the Iraq Meteorological Department, Amr Al-Jabiri, called the claim neither scientific nor logical. He said that it had already been predicted back in September last year that 2026 would be a rainy year for Iraq. Experts have urged people to avoid false claims and conspiracy theories related to weather. Accusation of atmospheric changes causing drought According to a BBC report, Khaykhani claimed that an “atmospheric modification weapon” was used — a type of weapon that allegedly alters the atmosphere to deliberately create drought conditions. Meanwhile, some people in Turkey are linking heavy rainfall there to the same alleged conspiracy. A social media post claimed that due to the war, US aircraft are unable to enter Turkish airspace, which is why continuous rainfall is occurring there. The post has been viewed more than one million times. Some users have also claimed that the decades-long drought in Iran ended within five days of attacks on US bases. Experts: No technology exists to control weather Experts say such claims arise from lack of trust and misunderstanding of climate science. According to scientists, there is no technology that can directly control weather patterns or their intensity. Instead, increasing extreme weather in the Middle East is being attributed to climate change. According to Kaveh Madani of the United Nations University, cloud seeding is often misrepresented as a political weapon. Cloud seeding involves releasing small chemical particles (such as silver iodide) into clouds to encourage rainfall. However, scientists say its impact is very limited. It can increase rainfall from existing clouds by up to around 15% at most. Some people believe that cloud seeding in one area can “steal” rain from nearby regions. Professor Diana Francis of Khalifa University explains it like this: it is like giving clouds a slight push — it cannot control the weather system itself. Rainfall pattern in this region is irregular According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), in recent decades the temperature of this region has increased at twice the rate of the global average. This is making heatwaves longer and more intense, and the rainfall pattern has also become irregular. Total rainfall is decreasing, but when it does occur, it is very heavy, which increases the risk of flash floods or droughts. Experts believe that this increases people’s concerns about water, which causes such rumors to spread rapidly.
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