{"id":1779,"date":"2021-07-19T21:45:39","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T21:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1779"},"modified":"2021-10-23T21:48:33","modified_gmt":"2021-10-23T21:48:33","slug":"at-least-three-shot-dead-less-than-a-week-into-demonstrations-against-water-power-shortages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1779","title":{"rendered":"At Least Three Shot Dead Less Than a Week into Demonstrations Against Water, Power Shortages"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 19, 2021\u2014The unlawful killings of protesters by state security forces in Iran\u2019s drought-ridden Khuzestan Province should be condemned by the UN and international community to prevent further loss of life from excessive and unlawful state force, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said in a statement today.<\/span>\u201cIranians are desperately calling for water and electricity and are being answered with gunfire and state security thugs on motorcycles,\u201d said CHRI Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe UN should forcefully call upon Iranian authorities to allow people to air their grievances without threats of violence or imprisonment, in order to prevent a repeat of the events of 2019, when demonstrators were slaughtered by the hundreds,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the Iranian Constitution ostensibly allows peaceful protests and marches to be held, Iranian security forces have a documented history of violently suppressing protests with indiscriminate and live fire and by conducting arbitrary arrests.<\/span><\/p>\n

Provincial officials have confirmed the deaths of at least three protesters as of July 17, one day after protests erupted throughout the province over nationwide water and power shortages that have hit Khuzestan Province particularly hard amid a debilitating heat wave.<\/span><\/p>\n

The young male victims include Ghasem Khaziri, who was killed in Koutabdollah, Ali Mazraeh in Ahvaz, and Mostafa Naimavi, who was killed in Shadegan and whose death local authorities blamed on \u201csaboteurs.\u201d Many more are believed to be injured.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gunfire can be heard in videos shared on social media networks showing state security forces on motorcycles rushing upon fleeing crowds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Iran is facing its worst drought in 50 years. The government\u2019s chronic economic and environmental mismanagement and corruption have greatly worsened the crisis. Protests have occurred in several cities throughout Khuzestan Province, including the capital Ahvaz, and the cities of Shush, Sousangerd, Shadegan, Koutabdollah, Katkheh, Hamidiyeh, Shawvar, and, Seyyed-Naim.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than 130 documentary filmmakers in Iran expressed solidarity with the protesters on July 19, noting that they have \u201calways reflected the struggles and demands of the people and today we stand by the thirsty people of Khuzestan and condemn the suppression [of their protests] for seeking water and greener pastures.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAccess to water and electricity is a necessity and the ability to protest without the threat of death is a basic right that should be protected by the Iranian government, not trampled upon,\u201d said Ghaemi.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

July 19, 2021\u2014The unlawful killings of protesters by state security forces in Iran\u2019s drought-ridden Khuzestan Province should be condemned by the UN and international community to prevent further loss of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1780,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779\/revisions\/1780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}