As Iran swelters under an unprecedented heatwave, the people’s patience with the clerical regime’s incompetence and corruption has reached a boiling point. In the city of Sabzevar, courageous citizens took to the streets for two consecutive nights on July 21 and 22, channeling their fury over crippling water and electricity outages into a powerful display of resistance against the ruling theocracy.
On the evening of Tuesday, July 22, protests erupted at the Governor’s Office square and spread through Abu Zar street, with demonstrators blocking Bahonar street. In a remarkable show of defiance, women were at the forefront of the demonstrations, leading chants that reverberated with a nation’s frustration: “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, we are all together,” “Water, electricity, life are our inalienable rights,” and “Incompetent official, we don’t want you.”
More footage of protests in Sabzevar against power and water outages.
"We have neither power nor water, the governor is asleep," protesters chant.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/VO5bobNVr5— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) July 22, 2025
The regime’s response was predictable and brutal. Security forces and plainclothes agents descended on the scene, attempting to disperse the crowd with threats and beatings. When the people stood their ground, the repressive forces fired tear gas into the crowd of unarmed civilians. The protesters answered not with retreat, but with cries of “Shame on you, shame on you!”
A national crisis born from indifference
The events in Sabzevar are not an isolated incident but a flashpoint in a nationwide crisis. Faced with extreme heat, the regime has proven utterly incapable of managing the country’s basic infrastructure. Its only solution has been to announce the closure of government offices, banks, and public centers in 24 of Iran’s 31 provinces.
The crisis is particularly dire in the capital, with the state-run Asr-e Iran news site reporting on July 21 that Tehran is facing its “worst water resource situation in the last 100 years.” Officials admit the Mamloo Dam will go out of service by September, with the Lar, Latian, and Karaj dams soon to follow. Even the regime’s own media outlets are sounding the alarm. The state-run Ham-Mihan newspaper warned on July 20 that the social consequences of the blackouts have created an “explosive warehouse that will be ignited not by a spark of fire, but by the absence of electricity.”
Despite this, the regime’s callous disregard for the people’s suffering is staggering. On July 22, Fatemeh Mohajerani, the spokesperson for regime President Masoud Pezeshkian, shamelessly described the crisis as “an opportunity for people to take a breath,” adding, “we are aware of the people’s economic problems, but our people went on many trips during Eid with these same economic conditions.”
Funding terror over people’s needs
The reason for this catastrophic failure is a matter of priorities. As Iranians suffer through blackouts and water shortages, the regime is pouring the nation’s wealth into its repressive and military apparatus. On July 21, Hamid Pourmohammadi, the head of the Program and Budget Organization, laid bare the regime’s agenda, stating, “In these conditions, strengthening the defense base is the first priority of the entire system, and the government, parliament, and judiciary are pursuing this same issue,” as reported by the IRGC Quds Force’s Tasnim News Agency.
Like so many of Iran’s resources, the country’s water supplies have not been spared from the plunder and corruption of the clerical regime and its brutal IRGC enforcers. Years of mismanagement and exploitation have pushed Tehran and much of the country to the brink of a…
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) July 21, 2025
As Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, stated, “Like so many of Iran’s resources, the country’s water supplies have not been spared from the plunder and corruption of the clerical regime and its brutal IRGC enforcers.” She explained that the crisis has been manufactured by the regime’s policies, including “the excessive use of water resources in industries that serve the IRGC, the misuse of groundwater, and the construction of dams that serve the regime.”
Uprising is the only path to salvation
In her message, Mrs. Rajavi saluted the brave protesters of Sabzevar and its leading women, calling on people in other cities, especially Tehran, to rise up. She emphasized that the unbearable conditions imposed on the Iranian people are a direct result of a corrupt and criminal regime that prioritizes its own survival over the lives of its citizens.
Salute to the brave people of Sabzevar, who blocked the roads last night in protest against relentless power and water outages — giving voice to the deep, long-silenced anger of a nation denied its most basic rights for 47 years by a corrupt and criminal clerical regime.
These… pic.twitter.com/AcqT7eXU2O— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) July 22, 2025
The defiant protests in Sabzevar are a clear testament to the fact that the Iranian people will not be silenced. They see the regime for what it is: the source of their suffering. As the crisis deepens, so too does the people’s resolve to reclaim their country. The solution, as Mrs. Rajavi stressed in a statement, is clear: “The only path to salvation is a nationwide uprising for regime change — to establish democracy, justice, and the will of the people.”