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Thousands Protest in Dried-Up Riverbed Over Iran's Water Crisis

Farmers and supporters have been holding a huge protest in what was once the Zayanderud river. On Friday, security forces moved against them.
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Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. Photo: Middle East Images
Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. Photo: Middle East Images

Security forces in Iran have moved against demonstrators protesting against water shortages in a dried-up riverbed.

Thousands of farmers and their supporters have been protesting for more than two weeks in the Zayanderud river in Isfahan, central Iran. The river, the name of which translates to “birth-giver,” has been mostly dry for years, but the people in the area have been suffering from the impact of a catastrophic drought in 2021.

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Unusually for a regime incredibly sensitive about protest movements and internal opposition, Iran’s state media has covered the protests, and Iran’s Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian was quoted as saying: “I apologise to all of our dear farmers, and I feel ashamed for not being able to provide the water needed for their crops. With God’s help, I hope we can overcome these shortcomings in the next few months.”

However, footage posted online on Friday showed security forces firing tear gas at protesters, who have been chanting, “Let Isfahan breathe again, revive Zayanderud.”

Iran has built 600 dams in the past three decades for electricity and agriculture uses. Zayanderud is, or used to be, the largest river in the Iranian plateau, but it has gradually stopped flowing through Ishafan, a city home to nearly 2 million people.

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Iran is heavily dependent on hydroelectric power plants, and Iranians experienced regular power cuts over the summer during periods of extremely hot weather, with the cuts igniting sporadic anti-government protests in Tehran. Officials have blamed the water crisis on low levels of rainfall last year, but critics attribute it to the government’s water distribution policy.

To provide water for 25,000 villages hit hard by the drought, the Ministry of Energy announced an initiative called “Water Jihad Council” earlier in November.

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Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Representatives from Isfahan have already met with Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi, but without much immediate action, the farmers continued their sit-in in the dried riverbed that started on the 9th of November.

People in the other parts of Iran, angered by water shortages and power cuts have also taken to the streets. 

In July, hundreds of people in Khuzestan province, southwest Iran, protested over a lack of water. Demonstrations turned violent, with at least nine people killed by security forces and hundreds more arrested following a crackdown in July.

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

Thousands of Farmers and their supporters protested, demanding the authorities to open the dam on the dried up riverbed of Zayandeh Roud in the city of Isfahan. The central Iranian city has been dealing with water shortages and drought which has worsened over the years. Photo: Middle East Images

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