Violence escalates in water-shortage protests in Iran’s Khuzestan

Alarmingly, now the third civilian has died during protests over water shortages in Iran’s southwestern province, Khuzestan. Hossein Nabovati, the official from the governor’s office, says, that a young man, was hit by a car during protests and later died of injuries.

However, Nabovati also denied that three more protesters were killed during the protests and said 14 police officials were injured. Authorities confirmed that two civilians, 18-year-old Ghasem Khozeiri and 30-year-old Mostafa Naimawi, were shot dead but they say the young men were not protesters and were murdered by opportunists and rioters.

Iranian authorities mentioned that even one police officer was shot dead by agitators in Khuzestan, where six nights of protests over water shortages have turned deadly. Sporadic internet slowdowns or blackouts have been reported across the province for several days. Despite the internet restrictions, numerous videos have come out of several counties in Khuzestan in many of which shots were heard and tear gas was used.

Oil-rich Khuzestan was temporarily seized by Iraq’s Saddam Hussein after he invaded Iran with backing from the West, has faced water problems for decades. Its large Sunni Arab population has long complained of being marginalized in predominantly Shia Iran. Officials acknowledge that the province has been hit hard, but they claim separatist groups are to blame for the violence and accuse foreign media of trying to take advantage of the situation to oppose the theocratic establishment.

Over social media, hashtags in Farsi such as #KhuzestanIsThirsty and #KhuzestanHasNoWater have been widely used to direct attention towards the crisis and protests that have been scantily covered by international media. Some civilians have tried to raise funds to buy water bottles and tankers to send to Khuzestan, but others have pointed out that such moves belittle the long-term issues faced by the people of the province who require a sustainable solution after years of mismanagement and neglect following the war.