TEHRAN: Iranian security forces fired tear gas and batons on Friday during clashes with protesters demonstrating in Isfahan in support of farmers angry over water shortages, according to Iranian news agencies.
Thousands of protesters have converged on Isfahan in central Iran to voice their anger after the city’s lifeblood river dried up due to drought and diversion.
Videos posted on social media showed police in the central Iranian city apparently opening fire with birdshot in the dried up riverbed of the Zayandeh Rud, the largest river in the drought-stricken region.
The water crisis due to drought and authoritarian management of waterways by Iran’s government continues.
The latest protests started in Isfahan which has extended to Ahwaz and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province.
Ahwaz internet & Isfahan’s Mobile data of Isfahan is cut off. pic.twitter.com/O40mEMv3K0
— فدراسيون عصر آنارشيسم Federation of Anarchism Era (@asranarshism) November 26, 2021
Iranian news agency Fars said demonstrators threw rocks and set fire to a police motorcycle and an ambulance. “They are in groups of 40-50 on streets around Khaju Bridge and are estimated at around 300,” the agency reported.
Meanwhile, state TV showed police firing teargas at demonstrators gathered in the dried riverbed. Social media videos showed several injured protesters, at least one with apparent birdshot pellet wounds.
Overnight, farmers holding a two-week-long peaceful sit-in to protest against water shortages in the region were dispersed by unidentified men who set fire to their tents. Social media posts said they were security forces while state media said they were “thugs”.
State media earlier said farmers had agreed to leave after reaching a deal with authorities. The farmers in Isfahan province have for years protested against the diversion of water from the Zayandeh Rud to supply other areas, leaving their farms dry and threatening their livelihoods.
A pipeline carrying water to Yazd province has been repeatedly damaged, according to Iranian media. In July, protests broke out over water shortages in the oil-producing southwest, with the UN human rights chief criticising the fatal shooting of protesters.
With an economy crippled by US sanctions, Iran has been the Middle East’s worst-hit country in the COVID-19 pandemic. The drought has forced Iran to import a record volume of wheat.
