Isfahan protests and officials' efforts to link it with foreigners

The chief justice of Isfahan announced the treatment of those arrested for water shortage protests. The representative of Qom says there are “codes” that show that the protests were planned by foreigners, and the Imam of Friday prayers in Isfahan speaks of the possibility of water shortages in Isfahan.

Asadollah Jafari, the chief justice of Isfahan, has announced a special investigation into the cases of those arrested during recent protests in the province. He referred to “some individuals” who, he said, “attempted to disrupt public order, disrupt peace and comfort, destroy government and private property, and clash with government and law enforcement officers,” and said: “Without a doubt, the provincial judicial system will deal with such individuals seriously and without any consideration in accordance with the law.”

Jafari has considered the "accountability of the hardworking farmers who were pursuing their legal demands to be separate from that of the perpetrators of these incidents."

The Iranian Human Rights Organization announced that around 120 people were arrested during the protests in Isfahan on Friday, December 25. The commander of the NAJA special unit announced the number of detainees at 67.

Protest rallies against water shortages and the management of the country's water resources were held in Isfahan for two weeks on the dry bed of the Zayandeh River. On Thursday, December 24, farmers' tents were set on fire and a special unit prevented the protesters from continuing their gathering.

Mohseni Ejei, the head of the Islamic Republic's judiciary, had previously said, referring to the peaceful protests by the people of Isfahan and Chaharmahal Bakhtiari due to officials' mismanagement of water resources: "If ignorant or deceived individuals want to disrupt people's security, the people and the military, security, and law enforcement forces must take action."

With the suppression of protests in the dry riverbed, the clash between security forces and protesters, and the protests spreading into the city, now, as always, officials are trying to attribute these protests to foreign factors.

“Foreign hands in Isfahan protests”

Referring to the recent unrest in Isfahan over water problems, Qom MP Mojtaba Zolnouri said: “It is good that people can peacefully express their pain and problems to the authorities.” Zolnouri also points to the role of the enemy, saying: “In these cases, the enemy is trying to derail the peaceful path of protests and is investing in this area to reap the benefits.”

The representative of the people of Qom continued: "In the recent unrest in Isfahan, we have many codes that show that the behind-the-scenes planning of these movements was carried out by foreigners, and unfortunately, at some point they were able to take some people with them." Like the Chief Justice of Isfahan, he emphasized: "The farmers who had entered the scene to express their demands separated themselves from the counter-revolutionaries and foreigners as soon as they saw the violence with the intention of taking revenge on the system."

In an article published by the Etemad newspaper, Abbas Abdi says that the Isfahan protests differ from other protests in several ways. He sees this difference as being predictable from a long time ago, the traditional, religious, and Sunni background of the protesters (generally older than the youth), the location of the protests, and most importantly, the way the authorities dealt with them. This approach, in the author's opinion, promised to end, albeit temporarily, this tension through dialogue.

A hope that, according to the author, not only failed to materialize, but also took on a different face with the “burning of protesters’ tents” and the transfer of the protests to the city center and the presence of young protesters with different slogans. He goes on to criticize the police and security measures in confronting the protests and the “insistence of official policies on linking these protests to abroad and foreigners,” writing: “It may have a temporary effect in convincing some people or justifying certain behaviors, but it leads the protesters to conclude that the solution lies abroad.”

Abbas Abdi has emphasized that how the protests are dealt with should be based on internal variables and factors, “even if external hands are seen in it.” He has called on officials to “exercise restraint” in dealing with the protesters, and has considered the publication of images of the confrontation with the protesters “a kind of rubbing salt in the wound.”

“Drinking water in Isfahan should also be cut off within the next two to three months.”

We are talking about a wound that is predicted to turn into a "fell wound" if the protests are not properly managed, resorting to violence and repression, like all past protests.

The problem of water scarcity and water scarcity, along with climate change due to mismanagement of water resources and adoption of wrong policies in this area, is not a problem that can be solved overnight. Even Yousef Tabatabaei Nejad, the Friday prayer leader of Isfahan, has come to the conclusion: "I don't think they can do anything urgently right now."

The Friday prayer leader of Isfahan says: "That means we cannot return the water of Yazd, we cannot tell Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari not to use water because they themselves are experiencing water shortages, and we cannot give the water behind the dam to farmers. That means I think that if there is no rain in the next two to three months, Isfahan's drinking water will also have to be cut off."

Source: DW