Flood covers 2/3rd of Aq-Qala (City north of Iran), due to poor regime emergency services, that could have diverted the water flow away from the city-March 22

In the wake of the extensive flooding that ravaged Iranian cities and towns this week, the Iranian clerical regime is doing all it can to conceal the full extent of the loss of human life. Following the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran’s (MEK’s) revelation that more than 200 Iranians perished in the flooding, the regime has hit back, accusing the pro-democracy group of resorting to “rumors and lies.”

“By exploiting the flood incident, they [the MEK] intend to distort the mentality, belief, and trust of the people,” the regime-affiliated Fars news agency reported.

Avoiding Responsibility

The regime intends to demonize and undermine the opposition group in order to avoid taking responsibility in its role of exacerbating the damage and destruction caused by the flooding.

The MEK has been instrumental in drawing attention to the regime’s corruption and mismanagement of mechanisms designed to mitigate flood damage. Its president-elect Maryam Rajavi condemned the regime for inflicting “this catastrophe on Shiraz and its valiant people.” She added, “they destroyed the channel which used to lead floodwaters out.” Instead, the clerical regime constructed buildings in the channel, putting profits ahead of the safety of the Iranian people.

The regime’s responsibility for the deaths and destruction caused by the flooding is so apparent, regime officials cannot deny it. Shamkhani, the secretary of the regime’s Supreme Security Council admitted that “anyone who built on the flood watercourse of Darvazeh Qu’ran… a combination of the private sector and the services and government sectors… is guilty.”

Regime officials even appeared to acknowledge lying about covering up the full extent of the flood’s damage. Rahmani Fazli, Hassan Rouhani’s interior minister, said news of the floods “should be dealt with in a manner that would ensure the general and psychological calm of the victims.”

Threatening Truth-Seekers

In recent days, the mullahs have gone one step further and actively threatened those that publish details on the death toll and damages to Iranian cities. Iranian Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said those that shared the news would be “dealt with accordingly.”

The assistant attorney general for cyberspace called on police to monitor reports online and “deal with producers and publishers.” The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Colonel Fakhreddin Tavakoli encouraged Iranian citizens to inform the FATA police if they saw any reports.

By refusing to disclose all of the facts, the IRGC and the clerical regime are preventing victims from receiving the necessary assistance and resources. They prevent effective rescue attempts to retrieve victims’ bodies and do not allow humanitarian assistance to those currently stranded without food and water.

The regime’s conduct, both in removing natural safeguards against flooding and in refusing to accept the severity of the situation following the disaster, is contributing to the suffering, hardship, and death of Iranians. It should not be allowed to continue.

Staff writer