Today, population growth, agricultural development in arid and semi-arid countries, and inappropriate atmospheric precipitations in some areas have given rise to water crisis. All of these occurred since the agricultural sector consumes water the most. Therefore, the global trade in agricultural products, coupled with the virtual water trade, could be a good solution to this crisis. Virtual water is the amount of water a product consumes during its production process. This study investigated the virtual water trade of corn crop and its influencing factors in Iran and MENA countries using Hacker-Ehlin theory of gravity model. To do so, corn crop statistics were gathered through the World Bank and FAO databases from 2009 to 2009. During the period, the rate of virtual water imported into Iran was 5 cubic meters and the rate exported was 321193 cubic meters representing a beneficial business policy. Among the variables, the population of the studied countries with a coefficient of 2.222 had the most influence on gravity model. The findings revealed that the MENA countries in the virtual water trade could further protect their water resources by following the Hekcher- Ohlin theory.
