13 April 2018.– The lack of water available to people in Iran is the current worry that is driving the people into the streets to protest. Farmers are seeing their crops die and their livelihoods destroyed before their very eyes and they are understandably angry at the Iranian regime that is behind it all.
Hundreds of farmers gathered in the city of Isfahan in central Iran in protest against the regime’s mismanagement. They have been left with no or very little water to irrigate their land.
Videos of the protest that took place on 10-12th April circulated on social media. Shows that at least 15 people were arrested, the riot police and suppressive forces were present and they were seen warning the crowd that they would be detained for chanting slogans against the government.
Farmers in Isfahan also, in addition to insisting on the return of their water rights, called for the immediate release of those arrested on the previous day’s demonstrations.
Large parts of the country are dealing with severe water shortages and drought. To make matters worse, officials in ran have diverted the water from the region’s main river to the nearby Yazd Province. Farms are feeling the ill-effects of this and people have been holding protests for the past few weeks.
The government has said that it will financially compensate the farmers but this is extremely unlikely.
Since the widespread protests at the end of last year, smaller protests have been happening across the country for several different reasons.
The main consensus of the Iranian people is that they are fed up with corruption that is starting to have a very real impact on social conditions. They are never put first by the regime – it is proxy groups and militias, the spread of chaos and the funding of terrorism that is prioritised.
The people are a grave threat to the ruling regime and it is well aware of the fact. This was evident in the sheer numbers of people that have been taking to the streets to make their discontent known. They need support from the international community and the regime needs to be held accountable for its crimes.
As well as severely oppressing the people and denying them human rights, the Iranian regime is involved in acts of terrorism and fuels the chaos that is reigning in the Middle East. It is not just the people at home that are affected, but millions of people outside the borders including women and children.
There is no doubt that Iran played a role in the unspeakable atrocity that took place in Syria last weekend. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds needed medical attention after a chemical weapons attack that targeted residential areas.
Although world leaders are aware that Iran is a major source of destabilisation in the Middle East and beyond, not many are willing to take decisive action to curb the threat. Many are concerned about business deals and investments, but these must not be prioritised when the lives of so many are at risk.
The Iranian people will be the force behind the imminent removal of the clerical regime as long as it has international backing.
