Security Armed Forces Open Fire on Thirsty Demonstrators in SW Iran

By: Iran News Wire

Iranian security forces attacked and opened fire on thirsty locals who were protesting the lack of drinking water in their homes in southwestern Iran. According to local reports, running water in the Gheyzaniyeh rural district located in the Khuzestan province has been cut off by local officials in the past few days.

In one of the videos published online, an angry man cries out that he has not taken a shower for 10 days.

Locals who blocked the Ahvaz- Gheyzaniyeh road with burning tires today were met with force by security forces and police.

Initial reports indicate that a few people, including a teenager, were wounded after being targeted with rubber bullets and pellet guns.

According to the Chief of Police of Ahvaz, the protesters were suppressed because they broke the law and must “seek solutions through legal means”.

But locals say that their previous protests and requests were left unanswered.

“Several people from Gheyzaniyeh in Ahvaz closed off the Ahvaz-Ramhormoz-Omidieh road to protest the negligence by officials in providing their drinking water… and the police entered the scene to prevent this,” Mohsen Dalvand told the state-run IRNA News Agency.

May 23 – Gheyzaniyeh, SW #Iran
Angry locals have blocked the Ahvaz-Gheyzaniyeh highway to demand drinking water.
The oil-rich region lacks basic facilities including drinking water. #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/Bwa3o0BaB7

— Iran News Wire (@IranNW) May 23, 2020

The Colonel said that locals initially threw stones and pieces of wood at the police and that two police officers sustained head injuries.

“The Police used pellet guns and rubber bullets and two protesters who were slightly injured were arrested,” he said adding that the injured locals “did not have any problems”.

It is important to note that Iranian officials are known to lie about the suppression of protesters.

Months after the November 2019 protests that shook the country, the regime still refuses to announce the number of protesters security forces and IRGC forces shot and killed on the streets.

According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, at least 1,500 protesters including dozens of children, were shot by security forces.

The oil-rich Gheyzaniyeh Rural District lacks the most basic of facilities and infrastructure.

Iranians are angry that the regime funds its proxies in the region but does not have money to provide basic facilities for locals.

According to a prominent former lawmaker, the regime has spent billions in the past decade to aid the Assad regime.

“We have spent maybe $20-30 billion in the past decade in Syria. That’s where the people’s money has been spent,” Heshmatollah Falahat Pisheh said in a recent interview with the state-run Etemad Online website.