Cleaning the Zayandeh Riverbed One Day Before the Reunion of Isfahan Protesters
Reports from Isfahan on Thursday indicate that following an attack by security forces, the gathering place of Isfahan farmers on the Zayandeh River has been "cleaned" by the city's municipality.
In a video posted by the Sharq newspaper's Twitter account, a citizen of Isfahan says that at 7:00 AM on Thursday, December 24, cleaners were cleaning up the remains of farmers' tents that had been set on fire by special forces officers the night before.
The cleaning of the Zayandeh Riverbed from the remnants of the use of force against farmers to end the sit-in is taking place one day before a rally, the call for which has been published on social media.
In a call that is said to have been issued by Isfahan farmers, they have called for a rally in front of Khaju Bridge on Friday, December 25, 1400, at 9:00 AM, and have invited all people to participate in the rally in support of them, as they did last week.
In response, a text message was also posted on social media, sent to many Isfahan citizens, asking them to: "Given that the provincial farmers' association has announced the end of its rally today, please be careful that your presence in this area is not abused by foreign and hostile media."
It seems that government forces are trying to prevent a large gathering like the one that took place on the Zayandeh River last Friday.
Farmers from east and west of Isfahan had set up a protest tent on the dried-up bed of the Zayandeh River and near the Khaju Bridge since November 7, protesting the disregard for their demands and the uncertainty each year for autumn planting.
Although Iranian state television and media outlets close to the government covered these gatherings in the early days and compared them to the November 2019 protests, last night, special forces attacked the tents of protesters and farmers on the dry bed of the Zayandeh River and set them on fire to force them to end the sit-in.
The Fars News Agency, close to the IRGC, has only reported the arrest of a number of "thugs and thugs," but reports on social media indicate that a number of protesting farmers have been arrested by police forces.
The attack on the farmers' tents took place in the early hours of the morning, when most people had gone home and only a few were present with the farmers.
In recent days, especially on Friday, November 18, thousands of Isfahan residents joined the farmers and demanded the permanent flow of the Zayandeh River and the Gavkhoni International Wetland.
Users on social media have written that the demand for water to flow in the Zayandeh River should not be reduced to a union and agricultural demand, because this river is the "identity" of the city of Isfahan.
Source: Radio Farda
