The twelfth government of the Islamic Republic, at the beginning of its formation, called itself the “government of moderation” and now in the last days of its life attacks the protesting citizens with heavy military weapons, fires tear gas and pepper, shoots bullets at the defenseless and thirsty people of Khuzestan, kills at least 9 people within 10 days of protests, detains more than 100 protesters, and has no mercy on children or adolescents. The “government of moderation” of the Islamic Republic, “following the order of the Supreme Leader”, first wounds Khuzestan and Lor protesters and when they are at the hospital, arrests them and takes them to an unknown location.
The twelfth government of the Islamic Republic began with the promise of “electronic government” and passes its last days in the office with daily unplanned power outages and frequent blackouts, widespread and complete disruptions in the Internet in every city and village whose people wanted to protest or support Khuzestan compatriots.
These protests began on Thursday, July 15, 2021, in several cities of Khuzestan province, in the southwest of the country, and yesterday, July 24, on the tenth day, after spreading to Bushehr, Isfahan, Alborz, Tehran and Lorestan provinces, on one side, they spread to Kurdistan and several cities in East Azerbaijan and Ardabil provinces in the northwest, on the other side, they reached North Khorasan in the northeast corner of the country. Today, the “thirsty uprising” has become nationwide protests.
Violent crackdowns, brutal repression by the Islamic Republic police and plainclothes agents, brutal killings and bloodshed, and arbitrary and illegal detentions, power outages, and Internet shutdowns have spread to other cities and provinces as protests spread.
Yesterday, Tabriz showed the spread of protests and solidarity with the people of Khuzestan; The Islamic Republic also spread brutal and decisive repression and disruption of the Internet.
According to HRANA, human rights activists news agency, at least three citizens named Mohammad Mahmoudi, Davood Rahimi and Samad Ladvandi were arrested by regime forces during yesterday’s protests in Tabriz. The videos and reports shared on social media, which are mostly related to the early hours of Tabriz rallies, before the internet was cut off in the city, show the armed forces used repression tools and military equipment against people who took to the streets empty-handed. They attack and use violence to try to disperse people preventing protests.
Brutal repression, shootings, beatings and creating an atmosphere of terror, internet and electricity outages, inciting ethnic strife to divide the Iranians, and… if these could prevent the spread of protests, they would in Khuzestan. As we see today, this fascist approach has given the exact opposite result. Today, the protests are no longer “Khuzestan protests”. The protests are nationwide. Today, the problem is no longer “water”, it is the Islamic Republic regime. Today, a woman clenches her fists in front of the officers armed to the teeth and chanted “Death to the Islamic Republic.” Today, the people of Izeh and Yazdanshahr pass Khamenei through cannons, tanks and firecrackers and call him a title devoid of honor. Today, Turks of Tabriz shouts the demands of Khuzestan Arabs in their city’s streets: “Azarbaijan is awake, supporting Khuzestan!”
The state-run media reported on the “return of calm” to Khuzestan and the “defeat of the rioters”. But as of this writing, no one has written a single word about the crowded demonstrations of people of Tabriz yesterday in support and solidarity with Khuzestan.
Despite NetBlocks confirming and documenting a complete shutdown and disruption of internet in Khuzestan since the beginning of the protests in this province, yesterday Jalili, the public relations manager of Khuzestan Telecommunication Company, in response to a reporter of “Payam Ma” newspaper, described these disruptions as a “technical problem in the electronic equipment of the telecommunication network of Khuzestan province.” He said “It’s not clear when the problem would be resolved and internet reconnected!” The newspaper also points out the damage that the internet shutdown has caused the business of Khuzestan residents: financial transactions have become impossible for many, Point of Sale machines have failed, and has caused significant disruption in the life of Tapsi and Snap (ride-share services in Iran) drivers and even the teachers of the province. Meanwhile, the CEO of Khuzestan Telecommunication Company is not even willing to answer journalists’ questions.
Not only has the regime not solved the problem of water and electricity, poverty, unemployment and the destruction of the environment of Khuzestan, but it has added many other problems to them. Saeed Ahmad Avaei, the representative of Dezful, yesterday at the meeting of the Crisis Management Committee and the Agricultural Council of Khuzestan Province, proposed the construction of another dam to solve the water shortage problem in the province! After years of indiscriminate dam constructions by the Khatam al-Anbiya camp and other military and government institutions that turned Hour al-Azim Wetland into a waterless and grassless desert, Khuzestan became a dry and scorching region with a severely polluted air and forced its people to migrate, regime officials are now proposing to build another dam, again making “50-year forecasts.”
Today, people know where the main problem is. They also understand the final solution. Iran, this land and water, cannot tolerate the Islamic Republic regime for several more years. When the regime has everything, repressive weapons and mercenaries, military equipment, money and media, national solidarity is the only weapon that can destroy this destructive system.
Translation of this post by Sahar.