Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, March 3, 2020—Once again, floods have become a cause of a national disaster and tragedy for the Iranian people. The areas affected by flooding are the same areas that were hit in the March 2019. The question is, why hasn’t the Iranian regime taken any measures since March 2019 to prevent another flood disaster?
In the March 2019 flood, many villages and bridge in Lorestan province was destroyed and many villagers were stuck for a long time in floodwater and their communications were cut off. At that time, the Iranian regime had announced that the Revolutionary Guards’ (IRGC) Khatam-al Anbiya Base was tasked with rebuilding the areas destroyed by floods.
The state-run Mehr News agency wrote on March 8, 2019, “Saeed Mohammad, Commander of the IRGC Khatam al-Anbiya Base, and Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of the IRGC’s aerospace force have been traveling to Majin Dareh Shahr in Ilam Province. During this visit, they were supposed to examine the latest situation of the flood-stricken people in Majin, and their needs for building communication ways and new bridges.”
In fact, the Khatam Al-Anbiya Headquarters, which is one the main looting institutions of regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei, made many promises to rebuild these areas after the March flood disaster.
The director of Water and Power Organization of Khuzestan province had said, “We are building flood dams 26 kilometers northwest of Ahvaz to prevent flood waters of Karkheh and Dez.”
But when we look at the names of the cities that are hit by flood in the month of February 2020 such as Poldokhtar, Mamoulan, Khoramabad, and Kouhdasht, these were the same cities that were under flood in March 2019.
A simple look at IRGC commanders’ remarks shows that any claims and promises to rebuild these areas were lies and the Khatam Al-Anbyia Base just entered this project to looting the wealth and resources of the Iranian people by building non-standard and basic bridges that have been destroyed in new flood. They have only profited from the suffering of the flooded people of these areas.
On February 27, 2020, Meisam Ghadami, deputy of the Directorate General of Road Administration and Transport told the state-run Mehr news agency: “Regarding bridges of Chamsharan and Doabveh and five other bridges, I have to say that they were destroyed in March floods, and due to the lack of funds needed for the construction of new bridges and to speed up traffic in the area, the Department of Roads and Transport temporarily installed metal deck of bridges at the same location.”
Ghadami also acknowledged the huge damage due to floods in February and said: “According to officials, tens of billions of tomans’ damages to urban and rural infrastructures, residential homes, the agricultural sector, etc., a huge amount of damage that has not yet been compensated. This happened again in February and this time too, the province suffered more than 2 billion tomans in damages. Now, despite the March losses, the February catastrophe is added to it.”
“Damages piled up, promises of spring reached summer and were forgotten in autumn. Now in winter, the Lorestan flood victims are again in pain and suffering and only thing to do is to hope that the flood will not hit Lorestan in the spring since until now the floods and rainfalls has not waken up government officials,” reported the State-run Mehr news agency.
