In Iran, thousands protest against the drying up of a river

Published on : 11/19/2021 – 19:06

Thousands of people gathered in the city of Isfahan on Friday to protest against the drying up of an iconic river in central Iran, due among other things to the drought that is hitting the country.

Hundreds of farmers had already demonstrated several times since November 9 in the bed of the Zayandeh-roud river, but this is the first time that the rally has gathered so many people in the country’s third city.

“Thousands of people from Isfahan, farmers in the east and west of the province, have come together (…) with one main demand: to run water in the river,” reported the television journalist in Isfahan, broadcasting live the images of the demonstrators.

“The water of the river has been stolen for 20 years” and “the water must come back”, chanted the demonstrators, according to these images.

“East Isfahan has become a desert,” “Our water is being held hostage,” read the signs, according to photos published in Iranian media.

The protesters were on either side of the Khajou Bridge, under which the river once flowed, as well as on this 17th century structure.

Also passing under the famous Si-o-Sepol bridge in Isfahan, Zayandeh-roud has been dry since 2000, except for a few brief periods. If the drought is seen as one of the causes, farmers are also protesting against the authorities’ diversion of the river to supply the neighboring province of Yazd, which would have accelerated the drying up.

Immediate measures

“For years, there has been no will to solve the problems of this important river,” lamented the television reporter on Friday.

In the face of discontent, the government promised to resolve the problem.

“I ordered the ministers of energy and agriculture to take immediate action to resolve the issue,” First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber told television.

Energy Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian for his part “apologized to all farmers for not being able to provide them with the water they need for their crops”.

“The Ministries of Industry and Agriculture have been tasked with working alongside the Ministry of Energy to reduce the damage unfortunately suffered by some farmers,” he added.

President Ebrahim Raïssi had promised on November 11 to solve the water problem in Isfahan, Yazd and Semnan, in the same region.

And on Wednesday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the topic “the country’s problem” without hinting at the protests.

“The water problem will become a bigger problem in the world in the very near future,” he warned, according to a statement posted on his official website.

Isfahan is one of the main tourist destinations in Iran. Naghsh-e Jahan Square, located in the historic center of the city, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Arid country, Iran has experienced chronic drought for years, resulting in regular flooding caused by the combination of hardening of the soil and more or less violent rainfall.

In mid-July, protests took place against water shortages in the provinces of Khuzestan and Lorestan (southwest), killing four people, according to official media.

“People have expressed their dissatisfaction and we cannot blame them,” Ali Khamenei said at the time, while urging the demonstrators not to play into the hands of the “enemies” of the country who could, according to him, take advantage of the situation. .

With AFP