[Today's Prayer] "Tehran has become an uninhabitable place"... 'Sinkhole fear' covers Iran

The entire Iran is engulfed in ground subsidence, or 'sinkhole fear'. Climate change, poor water management, and indiscriminate development are cited as the causes.

On the 6th (local time), the British Financial Times (FT) reported that ground subsidence is progressing seriously throughout Iran and that voices are growing louder calling for an urgent national response.

Iran's Vice President for Environment Sina Ansari told the FT that "11% of the country's land area is under threat from ground subsidence." This is a scale that affects nearly half of Iran's 90 million people.

In particular, anxiety is growing in the Iranian capital Tehran due to damage to major infrastructure such as airports, railways, and roads. The National Cartography Center of Iran announced that the southwestern region of Tehran is sinking by up to 31cm every year. This is 60 times more than the international standard (5mm per year).

It is reported that the ground subsidence is directly affecting major facilities. Major railway lines in Tehran are being repaired repeatedly. There are also accidents where transmission towers are tilting and highways are collapsing. Some schools have been ordered to evacuate due to the risk of collapse.

A member of the Tehran City Council expressed concern that “large-scale ground subsidence could destroy infrastructure and threaten lives.”

(omitted)

Source: Naver News

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in God’s lovingkindness forever. (Psalm 52:8)

Lord, we hear the sad news that the Tehran region of Iran is experiencing ground subsidence due to climate change, poor water management, and indiscriminate development, causing many people to be gripped by fear.

What is even more regrettable is that it is not just a single sinkhole, but that 11% of the country’s land area may be at risk of sinking.

Please have mercy on the Iranians who live in fear that the ground may collapse at any moment, and protect them so that large-scale ground subsidence does not occur and innocent lives are not lost.

Dear Lord, when we see this situation, we pray that the Iranian people will look to Jesus Christ, our rock, and not to other gods.

Open the eyes and hearts of all Iranians, and grant them faith to come to the Lord who gives us true life and stability, rather than placing their hopes on this land where they cannot see even an inch ahead.

Please visit and encounter the Iranian people so that they can enjoy complete spiritual satisfaction and stability through the gospel of the cross.

We also hope that the Iranian church will rely on and hold on to the Lord with unwavering faith like a green olive tree no matter what situation they face!

May the Iranian church rise up as a victorious church that has a faith that has been refined in the midst of difficulties and that has the mission to spread the gospel among all nations in solidarity with the global church in the last days!

May the Iranian people know the love of the cross through the prayers and service of the global church, and may they rise up as a people who prepare the way of the Lord's return with a faith that loves only the Lord until he comes!