US State Department: Regime Imprisons Innocent Environmental Activists Instead of Corrupt Officials
The US State Department, referring to Iran’s environmental problems over the past 41 years of Islamic Republic rule, announced that the regime imprisons innocent environmental activists instead of corrupt officials.
The Persian language account of the US State Department tweeted: For forty-one years, the Iranian regime has neglected the country’s environment and has not addressed the problems of water scarcity and severe air pollution; problems that cause severe illness or death to thousands of Iranians every year.
The message continued, stating that “Nevertheless, the regime imprisons innocent environmental activists instead of corrupt officials.”
The Islamic Republic has increased pressure on environmental activists in recent years, including recently when the sentence of five years in prison for “Chia Mohammadi,” a resident of Sanandaj and environmental activist whose sentence was previously issued by the Revolutionary Court, was increased to six years in an appeals court.
Iran has recently faced the suspicious death of thousands of migratory birds in Miankaleh Wetland, and conflicting reports about the main cause of these birds’ deaths continue.
This is while several environmental activists have been imprisoned in Iran for months. Houman Jowkar, Taher Ghadiriyan, Morad Tahbaz, Sepideh Kashani, Niloofar Bayani, Amir Hossein Khaleghi, Sam Rajabi, and Abdolreza Kouhpaaye are among arrested environmental activists in Iran. Additionally, Pooria Sepahvand, an expert at the Parsan Heritage Wildlife Institute, was also arrested last November.
Recently, hearings on the cases of environmental activists were held in Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court under the presidency of Judge Selavati, and these activists were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 4 to 10 years on charges of “espionage against military centers.”
The environmental crisis in Iran has long attracted the attention of the international community. US officials have repeatedly warned about Iran’s mismanagement of natural resources, widespread deforestation, and unnecessary and unplanned dam construction aimed at filling the pockets of corrupt officials of the Islamic Republic regime, listing it as one of the main factors behind various environmental crises, including devastating floods and unprecedented droughts.
Previously, Brian Hook, the US Special Representative for Iran, had referred to environmental problems in Iran and stated that since the revolution, 600 dams have been built in Iran “without any environmental assessment,” announcing that the Islamic Republic regime has destroyed the country’s water resources through mismanagement over the past forty years.
Source: Voice of America
