Reported by PMOI/MEK
Iran, Jan. 10, 2019 – On Wednesday, famers of Isfahan’s Varzaneh gathered in Isfahan’s Golzar mosque in protest to the trampling of their rights to water by the government. In the past weeks, the farmers of Varzaneh have been continuously protesting to water shortages stemming from the destructive policies of the Iranian regime.
In the past years, projects undertaken by government institutions and the Revolutionary Guards have dealt serious damage to the ecosystem of Isfahan province. Projects include the building of dams and water channels that serve the purposes of the IRGC. As a result, agriculture, which is one of the main occupations of the province’s inhabitants, has degraded considerably. The farmers of Isfahan are faced with serious water shortages.
In the past year, the farmers of Isfahan have protested intermittently for extended periods of time. Iranian regime officials have promised time and again to address the problems of the farmers, but have yet to fulfill any of their promises. The farmers of Isfahan, fed up with hollow and unmet promises, are blaming the regime in its entirety for their economic miseries.
In their protests, the farmers regularly chant anti-regime slogans such as “The enemy is right here, [the government] is lying that it’s the U.S.” Another interesting initiative by the farmers is attend Friday prayers and sit with their back at the prayer leader, always a cleric who represents the views of the Iranian regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei. “Back to the enemy, facing the nation,” the farmers chant during these events.
The government of Hassan Rouhani has also given promises to solve Isfahan’s water problems. But halfway into his second term, Rouhani continues to renege on those promises. In their protests, the farmers regularly call Rouhani a liar for not fulfilling his commitments to the hard working people of the country’s agriculture sector.
