IN IRAN, THEY 🔫 IF YOU WANT WATER

In November '19, the regime in Iran shot dead 1,500 Iranians and arrested and tortured over 7,000. On 25 November '21, Khamenei's thugs were back at it, shooting and beating unarmed farmers who had gathered on the dried-up Zayandehrud to protest of water shortages in Isfahan. 3 people have been killed, 19 are hospitalised and at least 214 have been arrested, including 13 under the age of 18, according to Human Rights Activists News Agency. This violent suppression was met with crickets by The Guardian who claim to be 'Fearlessly holding power to account 🔍' on their Instagram Bio, and a tepid tweet from the U.S. State Dept. Spokesperson Ned Price despite the Secretary of State Antony Blinken headlining a press statement on 24 February 2021 with: 'Putting Human Rights at the Center of U.S. Foreign Policy.' The Democrats are in Vienna negotiating with Iran on a nuclear deal that will release 90 billion dollars of sanction relief to the regime.


The demonstrations, like in 2019, started out of the people's daily hardships, this time rather than fuel price it is a lack of water. An article in The New York Times, headlined: 'Iran Forcefully Clamps Down On Protests Against Water Shortages,' 'weather experts say 97% of the country is dealing with water scarcity issues,' and FRANCE 24 writes: 'Iran is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world.' Isfahan, Iran's historic city, had the largest river of the Iranian plateau flowing through it, the Zayandehrud, which means 'fertile' or 'life giver' in Persian. Today, the river is concrete due to decades of misuse as the government divert water to neighbouring Yazd for the construction of industrial military factories, and to supply other areas, namely drinking water to the religious city of Qom. The dried-up river adversely affects the environment and has prevented a traditional pit stop for migratory birds flocking south 😔. It also affects the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmers as they have no water to feed their crops. On 9 November, hundreds of farmers pitched up tents to hold peaceful sit-in protests, and were later joined by tens of thousands of locals, with one video shared by RFE/RL's Radio Farda showing crowds chanting: 'Give us back the Zayandeh Rood (River)!' An Instagram image shared by exiled Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani captures an old man praying, alongside the caption: 'This is #Isfahan. Where this old man is sitting, used to be a river called zayandeh rood ( The life-giver river, The fertile river ). Today Iran has dried out. Dried out of water. Dried out of justice and mercy. Iran is held hostage by some ignorant so called humans in power, not knowing how to manage a country. 😔😔😔 They have beaten up and shot at innocent people demonstrating for the water crises, in Isfahan: One of Iran’s most precious cities. My heart bleeds with the people of Isfahan and zayandeh rood river. My heart bleeds for Iran every day and every night…' 

 
The regime reacted with brutal force as per as the protests spilled over to at least one other city, beginning with riot police burning down farmers' tents that housed several families with young children. In a phone interview with Farnaz Fassihi of The New York Times, Hassan Tavakoli, a 47-year-old farmer from Isfahan, says: 'Before we had a chance to move, suddenly our tents were set on fire and they started throwing tear gas at us and shooting in the air. I never expected them to do this to us, to beat us, fire at us and injure farmers.' The crackdown continued onto the streets in downtown Isfahan with the Sepah-e Pasdaran shooting directly into the crowds, according to one video obtained by Iran International and another by Tavaana. A horrifying video on Twitter Retweeted by journalist and commentator Karmel Melamed appears to show an Iranian woman lying on her back in a pool of blood having being shot dead by the security forces. 

Of the heart-wrenching images coming out of Iran, many of the injured are seen in hospitals wearing eye patches having lost sight in one or both eyes from the IRGC firing directly at peoples faces with guns loaded with shrapnel and birdshot. According to a doctor in Isfahan speaking anonymously to FRANCE 24 THE OBSERVERS: 'The police 'intentionally targeted' heads and eyes of protestors.' Darya (not her real name) goes on to say: 'We have absolutely no idea how many people were injured or who lost eyes, but one thing that I am sure about is that the number of casualties is much higher than the official count.' The photos of innocent Iranians donning eye coverings has led to a viral social media movement sparked by the mothers of two young men who were gunned down during Bloody November, each wearing an eye patch and holding up a framed picture of their son, as shared by The Wind in My Hair: My Fight for Freedom in Modern Iran author Masih Alinejad.

Via FRANCE 24

Masih, who was recently targeted by the regime in a kidnap attempt foiled by the FBI, tweeted on 26 November photos of farmers with blood pouring down their faces, alongside: 'This is what happening in Iran right now. People took to the streets in #Isfahan for a peaceful protest but they are being violently suppressed by the regime. West is busy to get a nuclear deal. You must warn the Islamic Republic that there will be consequences for such brutality.' The 45-year-old followed-up with an eyewitness testimony from a farmer in Iran, who says: '"It wasn’t hooligans or thugs who shot at me. It was the security forces." For years Islamic Republic blamed hooligans for attacks on people. He is one of the many eye witnesses who say the security forces are behind the attacks. We need international media.' In another video bravely sent to the #MyStealthyFreedom founder, a woman in a chador can be seen wiping blood off her face, with the journalist writes: 'Islamic Republic’s cracking down on religious women, destitute farmers & children in Isfahan, once a hardcore base of support for the regime. Across Iran, old & young, men & women, Muslim or not, want to get rid of the oppressive regime.' In a further recording, the crowds could be heard chanting: 'Mag ba Khamenei' which means 'Death to Khamenei' and 'Natasi, bahamim' which means 'Don't be scared, we are all together.'
Iran's ultra-conservative newspaper Kayhan, financed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, claimed on 27 November that 'America's foot soldiers' perverted farmers’ water protest in Isfahan to 'sow unrest and reap sanctions' ahead of Vienna nuclear talks, as reported by Iran International. The newspaper also claims the protests were hijacked by 'paid thugs' and that farmers in fact never took part 😹. Pro-reform Etemad, one of the only few moderate newspaper's in the country, said that the Isfahan demonstrations showed a 'lack of trust in the government,' and conservative newspaper Jomhouri-e Eslami, which means 'Islamic Revolution,' criticised the hardline media, calling their claims 'a distortion of the truth,' as revealed by FRANCE 24. Local police chief Mohammadreza Mirheidari said in a televised interview late on 26 November that arrests were made at a gathering staged by 'anti-revolutionary' groups, as noted by Bloomberg, and police general Hassan Karami told reporters his officers had 'arrested 67 of the main actors and agitators,' adding that there were about 2,000 to 3,000 'rioters' 🤥. Hardliner Ahmad Alamolhoda, father-in-law of president Ebrahim 'Butcher' Raisi, blamed the water crisis on a lack of rainfall, saying in his sermon: 'Rallies against god will not work. Rallies must be to pray for rain.'


On 27 November, U.S. State Dept. Spokesperson Ned Price sent out a tweet, almost 72 hours after the shooting started, saying: 'Deeply concerned about the violent crackdown against peaceful protestors in Isfahan. The people of Iran have a right to voice their frustrations and hold their government accountable.' @NeverminD_DI responded with: 'Nevertheless, you're giving the bloody hands of the oppressors a firm handshake right now in Vienna,' and @Danakhoshgoftar: 'Were you on holiday till now?!!!!' Masih Alinejad Reweeted: 'Iranians don’t need empty words. If you are deeply concerned about those protester who got killed, then don’t bury human rights under nuclear deal.@StateDeptSpox.' On 26 November, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted: 'A year ago, the Iranian regime massacred 1,500+ protesters. Today in #Isfahan, Khamenei’s thugs are once again shooting Iranians in cold blood for the crime of being thirsty. To the courageous Iranian people: Americans are with you.' The Kansas native's comment was Retweeted by former State Department Spokesperson, Morgan Ortagus, alongside: 'Thankful for my former boss, who always stood with people of Iran over the tyrants who currently rule them.' The latter later appeared on Fox & Friends to discuss the current abuses, and how Biden & Blinken are silent 'while they negotiate to give the regime $90bn,' calling it 'a stain on our American democracy.'

The government in Iran is one of the most polluting and environmentally damaging in the world, yet there is crickets from Western environmentalists despite recent attention turning to the COP26 summit to discuss the state of the planet. An article in Worldcrunch, entitled: 'Why Environmental Protests In Iran Are Being Ignored,' notes: 'The growing environmental movement in the West, wittingly or not, has given no attention to mass protests in Iran against the clerical regime, most recently focused on the drought conditions and other ecological risks.' According to Struan Stevenson, author of Self-Sacrifice: Life with the Iranian Mojahedin, in UPI: 'The fact remains that during its 40 years of power, the mullahs' theocratic regime has not only slaughtered the Iranian people, violated human rights and spread terror around the world, it has also caused irreversible destruction to the Iranian environment. The answer to the environmental crisis in Iran, as well as the answer to the economic crisis, the answer to the social crisis and the answer to the security crisis across the Middle East and worldwide is the downfall of this regime by the Iranian people and their resistance, to create a free and democratic Iran with a government for, by and of the people.'