Turkey has agreed to increase releases from its Tigris and Euphrates dams to roughly 420 cubic metres per second for the next two months, offering temporary relief to drought-stricken Iraq. The step, approved by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after talks with an Iraqi delegation, is intended to ease bilateral tensions and advance the proposed Development Road that would connect Iraq’s Faw port to Turkey’s rail network. Baghdad says the additional water will be prioritised for drinking supplies, agriculture and the restoration of southern marshlands. Iraq is entering its fifth consecutive year of severe water stress, with official reserves at about 10 billion cubic metres—almost half the volume authorities say is needed to meet summer demand. While Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani welcomed Ankara’s gesture, water-resource specialists caution that the discharge is a short-term fix and urge Baghdad to pursue binding accords with both Turkey and Iran to secure longer-term flows. The deepening drought is reverberating across the wider region. Iran’s Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi warned that several major reservoirs could run dry within weeks and confirmed negotiations to import water from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In Greece, a new study by the National Observatory of Athens found the Mornos Reservoir—the main source for the capital—at just 60-65 % of typical May capacity, while government official Petros Varelidis said Attica’s overall reserves have fallen to about 540 million cubic metres, an emergency level after three successive dry years.