Videos broadcast by local media Sunday showed heavy rains and even some flooding in several regions, but it was not clear if this was linked to the seeding.
"Today, a cloud seeding flight was conducted in the Urmia Lake basin for the first time in the current water year," which begins in September, the official IRNA news agency said late Saturday.
Urmia, in the northwest, is Iran's largest lake, but has largely dried out and turned into a vast salt bed due to drought.
IRNA added that further operations would be carried out in the provinces of East and West Azerbaijan.
Cloud seeding involves spraying particles such as silver iodide and salt into clouds from aircraft to trigger rain.
Last year, Iran announced it had developed its own technology for the practice.
On Saturday, IRNA reported that rain had fallen in Ilam, Kermanshah, Kurdistan and Lorestan in the west, as well as in the northwestern West Azerbaijan province.
It quoted the country's meteorological organisation as saying rainfall had decreased by about 89 percent this year compared with the long-term average.
"We are currently experiencing the driest autumn the country has experienced in 50 years," it added.
State media has shown footage of snow falling on the Tochal mountain and ski resort, located in the Tehran area on the Alborz range, for the first time this year.
Iran, a largely arid country, has for years suffered chronic dry spells and heat waves expected to worsen with climate change.
Rainfall in the capital Tehran has been at its lowest level in a century, according to local officials, and half of Iran's provinces have not seen a drop of rain in months.
Water levels at reservoirs supplying many provinces have fallen to record lows.
Earlier this month, President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that without rain before winter, Tehran could face evacuation, though he did not elaborate.
Other countries in the region, including the United Arab Emirates, have also used cloud seeding to artificially produce rain.
Hundreds in Tehran pray for rain as Iran battles drought
Tehran (AFP) Nov 14, 2025 -
Hundreds of people gathered on Friday at a mosque in northern Tehran to pray for rain, with Iran gripped by one of its worst droughts in decades.
Rainfall in the capital has this year been at its lowest level in a century, local officials say, and half of Iran's provinces have not seen a drop fall in months.
Faced with water shortages, the government has decided to cut off water supplies periodically to Tehran's 10-million-strong population to limit consumption.
On Friday, men and women gathered at the Emamzadeh Saleh mosque in the Iranian capital and said a special prayer to implore God for rain.
The women were veiled and prayed in a separate area from the men, in accordance with Islamic practice.
Tehran nestles on the southern slopes of the Alborz mountains and has hot dry summers usually relieved by autumn rains and winter snowfall.
The mountain peaks, usually already covered in snow at this time of year, are still dry.
Tehran is by far the country's biggest city and its inhabitants use three million cubic metres of water per day, according to local media.
Last week, President Masoud Pezeshkian cautioned that without rainfall before winter, Tehran could face evacuation, though he did not elaborate.
The government later explained that Pezeshkian had only wanted to alert residents that the situation was serious and was not presenting a concrete plan.
Of the five major dams supplying drinking water in the capital, one is empty and another is at less than eight percent of capacity, officials say.
The situation in the rest of the country is hardly any better. Local media reported that Iran's precipitation level this year has reached just 152 millimetres, a 40 percent decline compared to the 57-year average.
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