Reported by PMOI/MEK
Iran, Nov. 2, 2018 – The farmers in Varzaneh, Shatur, and Ziar, east of Isfahan province gathered on Thursday to protest to scarcity of water and lack of access to water resources, among other demands.
The problem of access to water has become a focus of tension between the regime and the people of Isfahan, where agriculture is one the main sources of employment and income for its citizens. The Iranian regime has historically failed to manage water resources in Isfahan and other provinces.
Another problem is the disproportionate building of dams and water channels, which is mainly orchestrated by the Revolutionary Guards. The IRGC uses its vast financial and political power to use Iran’s water resources to its own benefit. The IRGC specifically builds dams to cater to its own institutions and companies. As a result, the farmers of Isfahan, who depend on the province's water resources to irrigate their lands, are taking the hit.
The mismanagement of water resources has not only resulted in economic damage to farmers but has also caused an environmental crisis in different parts of Iran. This is evident not only in Isfahan, but also in other provinces, such as Khuzestan, where severe dust storms have become a norm, and in Azerbaijan, north of Iran, where Lake Urmia, Iran’s largest salt lake, has lost most of its capacity in recent years.
This is not the first time that the farmers of Isfahan are protesting against the corruption of the Iranian regime. At the beginning of the year, Isfahan farmers staged similar protests and demonstrations that lasted for more than two months. Like many other protests that are happening across Iran in recent months, the slogans of the demonstrations have not only been directed at economic woes but also at the regime in its entirety and are calling for regime change.
The Iranian regime tries to lay the blame on foreign countries, but for the farmers of Isfahan, who have been living under the tyranny of the mullahs for the past four decades, there’s no question as to who is to blame for their daily miseries.
