s"Land subsidence is a destructive phenomenon," said Siavash Arabi, a measurement expert at Iran’s cartography department.
All those people have put incredible pressure on water resources on a semi-arid plateau in a country that saw only 171 millimeters (6.7 inches) of rain last year.
Over-reliance on ground aquifers has seen increasingly salty water pumped from below ground.
"Gradually, the pressure from above causes the soil particles to stick together and this leads to sinking of the ground and formation of cracks."
German scientists estimate that land under the airport is sinking by 5 centimeters (1.9 inches) a year.
"Rates (for subsidence) are very high and in many instances it’s happening in densely populated areas," said Shafiee.
Already, the drought and water crisis has fed into the sporadic unrest Iran has faced over the last year.
Iranian officials shrugged off the offer.
But solutions to the water crisis will be difficult to find.
Iranian authorities have begun to crack down on illegal water wells.