Iran is facing a water crisis that affects people in provinces across the country and shows no signs of improving. The MEK previously referred to the water crisis as one of Iran’s super challenges, and it is one of the many problems facing the country that has resulted from the mullahs’ corruption and mismanagement of Iran’s wealth.

People in Iran’s central and southern provinces and the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan have been the hardest hit by the water crisis.

A report covering clashes between farmers in Isfahan, central #Iran, and authorities refusing to provide their share of river waters.#IranProtestshttps://t.co/tZ4p1Hxx1g

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 26, 2018

Isfahan Province, in southern Iran, has been affected the most deeply by water shortages. The province’s primary industry is agriculture, and farmers in the region no longer have water to irrigate their crops, due to the drying of the Zayanderud River, Iran’s largest river. The Zayanderud used to provide a plentiful water source to the farmers of Isfahan. Then the IRGC began building factories upstream of Isfahan and diverting water from the river to support their regime-supported businesses. The once-prosperous Isfahan farmers were left without water to irrigate their crops or a means to support their livelihoods.

Virtually everyone in Isfahan relies on agriculture for their livelihood. In the Khorasgan district of Isfahan, the overwhelming majority of the district’s 300,000 residents support themselves through agriculture. The loss of water rights has led to a series of anti-regime protests and demonstrations over the past year. The same is true across Isfahan Province.

In the past, the regime has made promises to address the concerns of the farmers, but little to nothing has actually been done to follow through with these promises. At one point, the regime offered to pay the farmers a portion of the damages they have sustained in order to end their protests. The offer was so insulting it led to more protests.

According to the state-run ILNA news agency: “What has further enraged the farmers is the proposition to pay 5 million rials in exchange for 14-15 months of not having been able to plant anything.” The proposition amounted to approximately $50 for a year’s worth of damages caused by the regime’s policies.

Esfandiar Amini, the executive secretary of Isfahan’s agriculture organization, told ILNA, “The recent actions by authorities has enraged the farmers. This decision made them feel as if they’re being toyed with.”

Isfahan’s farmers responded to the regime’s offer with demonstrations. After the proposition was made, more than 700 farmers from East Isfahan staged protests against water scarcity and the loss of their water rights. The farmers wore grave shrouds to symbolize that they would go to any lengths to have their demands met. Farmers in the town of Jareh gathered at the Mahdieh mosque to protest, while other farmers in Isfahan lined up their tractors and protested in grave shrouds. One farmer was quoted by MEK sources as saying, “We farmers of Isfahan have been crushed under the feet [of Iranian authorities]. We rose to claim our rights to water. We will not go back to our homes. The water of Zayanderud is our most legitimate right. 75 percent of the water of Zayanderud should be allocated to farming purposes.”

The farmers of Isfahan are protesting for the right to do their work and for the fundamental human right to access water. The fact that they have spent months protesting for water rights points to the larger issue facing the Iranian people. the mullahs have brought Iran to the brink of collapse through their corruption and mismanagement of the country’s resources, and they have neither the will nor the ability to address the problems they have created.

.@Maryam_Rajavi, hailed the determination of the truck drivers,the deprived farmers of Isfahan,the oppressed hard-working workers of Haft Tapeh sugarcane factory & Ahvaz steel & called on fellow citizens, especially the youth 2 support them.#IranProtests#IranianTruckersOnStrike pic.twitter.com/tkYxBSe6LF

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) November 11, 2018

The farmers of Isfahan have gained widespread support for their protests, and many other sectors of Iranian society have also joined the ongoing nationwide strikes and protests that began almost a year ago. It has become abundantly clear that the regime is failing the Iranian people and that a change is necessary. The people are ready to control their own destinies.

Staff Writer

 

 

 

 

Recent protests in Iran will have unearthed distant memories for the Iranian population. In late December 2017, and early January 2018, protests tore across the Iranian nation. The People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) had a major role in organising the protests. The nation’s men, women, and youth from all walks of life took to the streets to express their desire for regime change. The urban middle classes stood alongside rural farmers and agricultural workers, along with the rest of the population, and came together in chants of “down with Rouhani” and “down with Khamenei”.

A reminder of distant memories

Iran has heard similar chants before. Forty years ago, in 1978, after the annual Nowruz celebrations, similar chants rang out across Iran. Nasser Razil describes how protestors gathered in Tehran, shouting “down with the Shah”. Then, as now, the country was in the grip of autocratic power, with a heavily oppressed population calling out regime change.

The parallels between the climate of 1978 and that which we see today are not limited to Iran’s internal political struggle. In 1978, western governments were convinced that the Shah would emerge from the protests with his regime intact. Just weeks before Nowruz, Jimmy Carter had called Iran an “island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world”. The UK Foreign Office also maintained a blind faith that the Shah was in control of the situation.

Foreign powers are not reading the signs

Fast forward to today, and the same attitude can be seen towards Iran from the western powers. There has been a prevailing school of thought in western governments that Rouhani’s oppressive regime has the support of the poorer classes and possesses the strength to whether the storm and put down the dissenting population.

This has clearly shown to be false. The recent protests indicate that the poorer communities have just as much desire for regime change as the urban middle classes. In Isfahan Province, it was the farmers that triggered mass public mobilisation in early April, disgusted at the regime’s inability to handle a water crisis. The recent protests raged for ten days, indicating that the regime could not quash the dissent. There were even reports of State Security Forces abandoning their posts and joining the protestors. The regime’s strength is evaporating, and there are clear signs that, like the Shah’s regime in 1978, it will not be able to maintain its grip on power for much longer.

Washington is currently re-examining its position on Iran. It will soon have to decide whether or not to adopt a firmer stance against the Iranian regime or continue with its policy of appeasement for the ayatollahs. The appointment of John Bolton as the new National Security Advisor to President Trump is a positive sign. He has long sympathised with the MEK and its leader Maryam Rajavi and will likely push for a harder stance towards the Iranian regime.

However, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. In 1979, when the Shah regime fell, western governments were in shock and were left scrambling to formulate a policy towards the incoming government. The same signs that were present in 1978 are visible today. Foreign governments must read them and react.

The Rouhani regime is losing its grip on power. All segments of the public have turned away from it and are crying out for regime change. The economy is still declining, and farmers have begun to strike and protest. The winds of change are on the horizon. Washington, London, and the other western governments must change their attitudes towards the regime in Iran. It will not be in power for much longer.

Staff writer

Demonstrators continue to take to the streets across Iran to protest its oppressive regime. Economic issues have powered many of the recent demonstrations, as citizens of all walks of life protest the corruption of the ruling regime.

 

The regime has attempted to quell the protests with mass arrests and suppressive forces rather than address the concerns of the Iranian people. On April 15th, the Khorasgan people in Isfahan  saw their houses attacked in the dead of night by suppressive forces hoping to prevent the protests from spreading. Farmers and youths in the city were arrested as part of this suppressive action.

 

Repressive forces maintained a presence of fear and intimidation in the city in a failed attempt to prevent further demonstrations. Anti-riot mercenaries traveling in twenty cars and four buses were dispatched to the city to stop the protests by the people of Varzaneh, MEK network inside Iran reported.

 

Despite these intimidation tactics, farmers in Isfahan met at Khourasgan Square and Abazar Avenue on Saturday to protest, with chants of: “Imprisoned farmers should be freed! Farmer dies, but does not accept humiliation! We are the women and men of battle, we get back our right to water!”

 

Demonstrators are raising their voices to protest a number of issues. In Khuzestan province, villagers from Jofair in Hoveizeh protested for the right to use water from Jofair Project.

 

In Ahvaz and Shushtar, protesters demanded the return of their looted deposits from the Arman Vahdat governmental institution. In Mashhad, a rally was held by the people looted by Caspian institute outside the Pamchal branch in Sajjad Boulevard.

 

In Tehran, Tarbiat Modarres University students protested corruption at their school, including looting the University’s budget, the illegal evacuation of dormitories, and renting university facilities, such as gyms and swimming pools, for profit.

 

In Yazd, health center workers protested months of having their salaries unpaid. They also protested their lack of job security.

 

In Yasuj, families of the victims of the fatal Asman airlines crash last year met at the Red Crescent building to protest the ruling government’s failure to recover the bodies of crash victims. They called on Tehran to find and return their families’ bodies.

 

In Tabriz, fans of the Tractor-Sazi team protested the team’s executive manager, Ajorlu, and suppressive acts against the team and its fans.

 

In several cities, including Qazvin, Kerman and Yazd, educational services purchase plan teachers demonstrated in front of Ministry of Education offices for the second time, asking for payment of their salaries and full insurance. They also demanded to be paid the same as official employees.

 

Protesters employed a variety of strategies to express their anger at the ruling regime. Protesters in Ahvaz blocked the doors of Arman Vahdat, the governmental institution that stole their deposits, with mud. In Shushtar, victims of Arman Vahdat forced employees out of the building and closed it. Other demonstrators carried signs condemning the actions of the regime and chanted slogans.

 

The uprising, which began in December of last year, continues in the form of widespread protests. The Iranian regime has yet to silence the voices of its people.

Laura Carnahan