A report on the sixth night of the uprisings in Khuzestan province against the water crisis; Shooting at people and shutting down the internet
21-July-2021
Category: ethnic minorities
21-July-2021
Newsgroup: Ethnic minorities –
Breathing in Confinement: The sixth night of the uprisings in Khuzestan province started in the evening of Tuesday, July 20, 2021, in the cities of Izeh, Ahvaz and Susangerd and continued until late at night and spread to various neighborhoods of Ahvaz as well as other cities in Khuzestan including Behbahan, Dezful, Abadan, Khorramshahr and Shadegan.
The peaceful protests of the people in Khuzestan turned violent when the counterinsurgency forces and police agents opened fire on people. According to local sources in Izeh, at least five protesters were shot dead by military and security forces.
In recent days, several protesters have been killed or injured in various cities. Among them, the the killing of two protesters, Qasem Khadiri, 17, from Kut Abdullah, and Mustafa Naimawi, 30, from Shadegan, have been confirmed by the authorities of the Islamic Republic.
According to “Breathing in Confinement”, the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, the sixth night of the peaceful protests in Khuzestan province was dealt with violence by security forces who opened fire on people.
The uprisings began on Thursday, July 15, and have so far spread to at least 23 cities in the province. According to the reports, internet has been shut down in some parts of the province while the landline and mobile phone networks of some of the operators also have been disturbed.
The reports received by “Breathing in Confinement” indicate that the government has cut off the internet in Dezful, where clashes between young protesters and government forces continued until late at night.
On the second day of the uprisings, two protesters, Mustafa Naeemawi, 30, from Shadegan, and Qassem Khadiri, 17, from Kut Abdullah, were shot dead by security forces. Reports indicate that a large number of protesters were killed or injured on the fourth night of the uprisings in Susangerd. Many protesters have also been arrested in Khorramshahr.
Three young protesters who were killed last night, have been identified as: Hadi Bahmani, Mohammad Kroushat, Farzad Frisawi.
Reports are indicative of widespread arrests in Khuzestan province. Ahwaz Human Rights Center quoted civil activists as saying: “On Tuesday, July 20, 2021, four Arab citizens from Ramshir, named Omid Tusi, Jassem Tusi, Mehdi Zoghabi and Hassan Amouri, along with some other Arab citizens have been arrested.
Photos and videos posted on social media show security forces firing on people. The videos also show that the people of Izeh blocked all roads leading to the city and chanting “Death to Khamenei.”
In line with the protests in Khuzestan, the people of Tehran in Sadeghieh Subway, chanted slogans against Ali Khamenei as well as the Islamic Republic.
In the subway of Golshahr also people chanted “Pasdar! (IRGC) shame on you, leave the country.”
Yesterday, a number of civil rights activists as well as former political prisoners in Tehran held a protest gathering in front of the Ministry of Interior in support of the people in Khuzestan. Participants however, were detained by police to be released after a few hours. Among these activists were Narges Mohammadi, Jafar Azimzadeh and Arash Sadeghi.
Contradictory statements of the officials of the Islamic Republic
After a large number of people killed or injured in the protests, the governor of Khuzestan said: “We must work around the clock to address people’s concerns.” A provincial security official also said that it would take “another 10 to 15 days” to supply drinking water to some parts of the province.
According to ISNA news agency, the governor of Khuzestan, Qassem Soleimani Dashtaki, said on July 17 that although water piping has been installed in some areas, but because the wells were dried out, and also due to some technical and infrastructural problems, the water was not supplied to the network and the shortage of drinking water continued.
Hassan Rouhani also blaming the farmers for the drought and water crisis said: “Despite our advice on avoidance of rice cultivation, the people in Khuzestan have been cultivating rice for many years, and this has exacerbated the problem. These went hand in hand to get people into trouble.”
International support
Reuters news agency in a report on the uprisings in Khuzestan which has spread to other cities in the country wrote: “Street protests over water shortages in southwest Iran continued for the sixth night on Tuesday amid rising violence, while residents in the capital of Tehran chanted anti-government slogans, according to videos posted on social media on Wednesday and Iranian news outlets. Several videos uploaded by social media users showed security forces using teargas to disperse protesters.”
Senator Marco Rubio tweeted in Persian: “The Iranian people want to get rid of the ruling regime in Tehran. Senator Rubio condemns the regime’s brutal use of force to disperse peaceful protesters. The United States must support the protesters rather than negotiating with this evil regime.”
Support in the country
So far, via posting some photos and videos on social media, the pop singer Mohsen Chavoshi, the football coaches, Mehdi Rahmati and Yahya Golmohammadi, as well as soccer players, Varia Ghafouri and Seyed Jalal Hosseini have supported the uprisings in Khuzestan. They called on the authorities to pay attention to the problems of people in Khuzestan.
On Sunday, July 18, more than 100 documentarians also supported the protests. In addition, the Defenders of Human Rights Center released a statement, condemning the crackdown on protesters.
Maziar Zare, the head coach of “Malavan Bandar Anzali” soccer team, Mohammad Nourizad, a civil activist imprisoned in Evin prison who is currently on medical leave, and Adel Ferdowsipour, are also among those who have supported the protests of the people of Khuzestan.
Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh, the current soccer coach and former player of the national soccer team, posted a photo on his Instagram page and wrote: “The people of Khuzestan need water, reach out to these people.”
Today, in a symbolic manner, the players of Foolad Khuzestan soccer team also supported the protests of the people in Khuzestan.
The Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, supporting the peaceful protests of the people in Khuzestan, condemns the government repressive treatment of people with its security forces opening fire on the protesters. The League also calls on the international community to take immediate action to clarify the number of detainees as well as their condition, and to urge the Iranian government to stop the repression and to release all of the detainees.