In this paper, recent changes in lake surfaces in Iran were analyzed. Also, causes of their occurrence and consequences that represent a threat to the environment and the population of this country in the Middle East were investigated. Primarily, the general natural and social geographical features of Iran were described. They are the base for understanding the problem of lake shrinking. In the middle of the paper, the different features of Iran’s endorheic drainage basins and main lakes located in their center are reviewed. Special emphasis was placed on the narrower research area, Lake Urmia in the northwest and Bakhtegan and Tashk in the south of Iran. Natural and anthropogenic factors that influenced the lake shrinking were analyzed and presented. The last part of the paper consists of a chapter where the surface area change of selected lakes was investigated. It was done by applying knowledge about geospatial technologies, i.e. processing and analyzing Landsat satellite images. Based on satellite images of lakes from 1991 and 2021 and their bands, the normalized difference water index (NDWI) was derived. Results were obtained on an annual and interannual level. Surface area values of every lake show seasonal oscillations within the year, with the maximum surface area in winter or spring. The results for 2021 show negative changes in the lake surface area, and significant decrease compared to the results for 1991. At the end of the paper, various types of consequences, caused by the drying up of Iranian lakes, were presented.