The growth of Iran's agricultural sector in the past few decades has exerted enormous pressure on its aquifers. There is a strong disparity between economic development and natural resource endowments, which threatens water and food security. In this paper, we used a multiregional input-output (MRIO) framework to assess the virtual water flows in Iran. We also estimate the internal and external water footprint of regions compared to their water availability. The results show that the northern part of the country, with no water scarcity, imported virtual water through the trade of goods and services, while severely water-scarce regions were net virtual water exporters. Iran had a net export of 1811 Mm3 per annum. While blue water resources (surface and groundwater) accounted for 92.2% of the national water footprint, 89.1% of total exports were related to the agriculture sector, contributing to only 10.5% of the national income. The results suggest that policy-makers should reconsider the current trade policy regarding food production liberalization in order to make Iran's limited water resources available for producing industrial goods, which can contribute more to the economy.

The Latin America and Caribbean region is water-abundant. It boasts some of the world’s largest rivers, lakes and aquifers, which yield more water per person than any other region in the planet. However, water is irregularly distributed in time and space due to climatic variability. While heavy rainfall takes place across the year in the Amazon rainforests, it barely ever rains in the Atacama Desert. Besides, the majority of the population is concentrated in cities. This generates strong asymmetries between water demands and water availability. Largely as a result, many freshwater ecosystems are endangered by a wide array of different pressures. Adaptation to climate change, universal access to water and sanitation services, pollution control and an integrated approach to transboundary water resources management are the main challenges ahead.