Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, October 27, 2019—Farmers of the Kharsagan district of Isfahan, central Iran, launched a rally on Saturday, October 26, protesting plans of Iranian regime officials and influential insiders seeking to transfer water from the local Zayandeh Rud River to their steel mill and factory.
The protesters were able to make their way into the steel mill’s courtyard and storm the chief’s office. Iranian regime officials dispatched anti-riot police units to the area to quell these protests.
Farmers in Isfahan Province have a long history of protesting with regime authorities for what is their rights. In November 2018, farmers of Gharneh, East Isfahan, gathered in front of the Yazd water pumping station in protest to the government’s mismanagement of water sources. In the past years, the Iranian regime’s corrupt policies has cut off adequate access to irrigation water, causing much damage to the farmers of Isfahan.
November 12
Isfahan, central #Iran
Farmers are protesting & demanding their share of river waters.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/tlnMbEsGLr— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 12, 2018
In the past year, the farmers of Isfahan have protested for months and on several occasions, demanding their right to water. As the regime has failed to respond to the demands of the farmers, they decided to take matters in their own hands. Sunday’s protest was taking place in front of one of the IRGC-run water pumping stations, which channels Isfahan’s waters to the neighboring Yazd province to serve the needs of different regime-affiliated companies.
July 3 – Isfahan, central #Iran
Farmers rallying outside the governor's office, protesting the closure of Zayandeh-rud River to their lands.
They are demanding their share of the river water.#IranProtests
pic.twitter.com/W7Z5rsvBJZ— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) July 3, 2019
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In January, the farmers of Isfahan province and the areas surrounding the Zayandeh Rud River travelled to Isfahan city to protest against the dictatorship that has trampled their most basic rights and stolen the vital water they need for their daily lives.
The rage of the farmers of Isfahan is intensifying every day, and the Iranian regime and its officials are becoming more and more terrified.
The resistance of the people and farmers of Isfahan has expanded to the degree that the protesters are often clashing with security forces.
Countless farmers in Isfahan, Khuzestan, Charmahal Bakhtiari, and Kohkiluyeh Buyerahmad and other provinces have been hit hardly by the destructive and corrupt policies and practices of the Iranian regime, which has disrupted the water resources in their districts.
The government and the IRGC have engaged in excessive dam and water channel creation projects in these provinces, causing damage to the ecosystem and cutting the farmers’ access to water.
Having received no response from the government for years, the farmers of these regions have taken to the streets as their last resort to reclaim their most basic rights. The slogans the farmers are chanting in their demonstrations are increasingly aimed at government officials and the regime in its entirety. The farmers have no illusion that the regime bears the entire blame of the current situation they’re enduring.
Some of the slogans the farmers shout during protests include, “Farmers will die but won’t give in to disgrace” and “death to dictator.” On several reprises, the farmers have attended Friday prayers, where senior officials give sermons about the regime’s policies and opinions, only to turn their backs to the Friday prayer leader and chant, “Back to the enemy, facing the nation.” The farmers of Isfahan also coined the slogan, “The enemy is right here, [the regime] is lying that it’s the U.S.” in their protests last year. The Iranian regime has tried to lay the blame for the country’s economic woes on foreign states. But for the people of Iran, who have been living under the tyranny of the mullahs for 40 years, there’s no question as to who is the real culprit.
