Environment

Al-Monitor – In the province of Khuzestan, where 74% of Iran’s oil is produced, water scarcity and poor air quality have made life increasingly untenable for the inhabitants. The region suffers from protracted water stress, compounded by dust storms and extreme heatwaves. Many of its nearly 5 million people are considering migrating to other provinces with higher standards of living. The government has not made …

Iranwire – A 19-year-old in the city of Maku in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province has been arrested by the local intelligence department for highlighting the crisis at Lake Urmia. Aydin Jafari held a small rally with fellow citizens on Saturday to call for action over the drying-up of the lake, which was once the biggest in the Middle East but has …

HRW – On September 8, the governor of Hamedan, Mohammed Ali Mohammadi, announced the arrests of 25 citizens during protests about the ongoing water crisis. Mohammadi claimed that the protests were illegal, and the fact that 20 of the arrested protesters were not from Hamedan city indicated that they were present “to incite terror.” On Tuesday, dozens of people demonstrated against the …

RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have confirmed the arrest of 25 people during a protest on August 24 against a cut in water supplies in the western Iranian city of Hamedan. Mohammad Ali Mohammadi, the governor of Hamedan, accused the detainees — who were attending three different demonstrations — of creating insecurity and panic among the public.Water cuts in Hamedan have led to …

IranWire – In the afternoon of Thursday, August 25, the people of Hamedan took to the streets for the third consecutive day to protest severe water shortages in the city and surrounding area. Videos of these protests received by IranWire showed an extensive deployment of riot police in response. The first two nights saw rallies held in front of the tomb of Avicenna. …

RFL/RE – Hundreds of people have taken to the streets in the western Iranian city of Hamedan to protest against a complete cut in water supplies that has lasted several days. According to videos published on social media on August 23, the protesters called officials “incompetent” as the water crisis intensified along with the summer heat.Several parts of the country have experienced …

Iranwire – once-fertile plains in Iran’s Yazd province have been afflicted by subsidence in at least 560 newly-identified locations, ISNA news agency has reported. The mayor of Yazd, Abolghasem Mohiuddini, was quoted on Monday as saying that sinkholes had opened up across the province after the recent monsoon rains. The deluge had up atop already-parched land no longer able to …

Iranwire – The city of Urmia in West Azerbaijan province has become the latest to report chronic water supply problems after recent extreme weather in Iran. Earlier this week citizens of Shahrekord in Charmahal and Bakhtiari province protested outside the governor’s office after piped water was cut off for nine days straight. Local officials said a pipeline from the Koohrang spring had been temporarily …

Iranwire — People in the Iranian city of Shahrekord in Charmahal and Bakhtiari province have gathered in front of the governor’s office to protest after nine days with no piped water. Videos posted online on Tuesday showed furious residents chanting slogans against the local and national governments, and shouting: “Only the street will give us our dues.” Large numbers of …

Iranwire – Fresh floods have engulfed the county of Firuzkuh in Tehran province on Wednesday shortly after weeks-long deluges left a trail of destruction across Iran. Governor Mohammad Heydari Manesh told reporters that relief teams had already been onsite in the village of Mazdaran when they were alerted to rising water levels in Firuzkuh city, a heritage site in the …