Iranian Police Crackdown as Protests Over Dry River Turn Violent

• Iranian Police Crackdown as Protests Over Dry River Turn Violent

EKO HOT BLOG reports that protests in Iran turned violent as police clashed with tens of thousands of people who had gathered to demand the restoration of a river that had been diverted to factories by the government.

Farmers protested this week along the Zayandeh Rud Riverbed in Isfahan province, which had dried up after the government diverted the water to enterprises owned by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The protests turned violent on Friday, with riot police charging the throng in an attempt to disperse it and send people home. According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), officers sprayed tear gas and pellets into the gathering, wounding over 50 individuals while the throng continued to chant anti-regime slogans.

State TV noted that the river provides livelihood for hundreds of thousands of farmers in the province.

Drought and water shortages were common along the river, but despite vows to find answers, the government did nothing to address the problem in the past. According to Al Jazeera, the country’s Supreme Council of Water authorized a nine-point plan that included recovering a significant wetland as a sustainable solution, but the plan was never fully implemented.

President Ebrahim Raisi met with environmental specialists, while Vice President Mohammad Mokhber called demonstrators to tell them that the administration was “seriously” investigating the matter.

The Bassiji, a volunteer paramilitary organization, was also there, according to the NCRI.

The violence followed an alleged arson attempt by security forces, who tried to burn down the tents the farmers had set up during the protest. The city’s municipality “cleaned up” the area following the incident, but the protests continued, Radio Free Europe reported.

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