“Help the people.
Every day, farmers hold their small protest outside Varzaneh.
An estimated 97 percent of the country has faced some level of drought, Iran’s Meteorological Organization said.
The Zayandeh Roud river once watered this region, flowing down from the Zagros Mountains, through the city of Isfahan and through a string of farming towns like Varzaneh and its suburbs, home to 30,000 people, some 340 miles, south of the capital Tehran.
But it dried up years ago.
The fields around Varzaneh are now stretches of desiccated, salt-laced dirt.
Water has also been diverted to other regions.
Habib Ramazani, a 57-year-old who was at the protest with Benvidi, said he and his family used to get by farming wheat, cotton and beetroot.
No official pays attention to our miserable situation,” said Ramazani, a father of five.
The town boasts of sending hundreds of its men to fight in the long Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s — Ramazani was among the volunteers.

Amnesty has also called on Iran to ensure that Iranians have access to clean water.
The rights group issued a statement on July 6th, saying, “Iranian authorities should also ensure that people in Khuzestan and other provinces across Iran enjoy their right to access sufficient amounts of safe drinking water for personal and domestic uses.” Water Authority officials in Khorramshahr and Abadan have told the press that that “the water crisis is over,” but the statement is hard to verify as Iran does not allow international reporters to visit the area.
According to social media reports there is a widespread rumor going around in the province about the Iranian government allegedly selling fresh water to foreign countries such as Iraq and Kuwait, but the Iranian government has refuted these reports.
According to state-run IRNA news agency, the rumor has flared up dissent and unrest in Khuzestan.
Some reportedly chanted slogans against the Iranian authorities, and shots could be heard on videos circulated on social media.
According to officials, one civilian and several police officers were injured in the violence.
State television reported that an unspecified number of demonstrators had been arrested, and claimed that some of the protesters carried firearms.
Allegedly, the water in in Khorramshahr is high in saline and it is muddy.
Residents have been complaining for nearly two weeks about the taste and color of tap water, and videos on social media showed a brown fluid running out of taps in Khorramshahr.
Concern over those who have been detained, and who may be at risk for torture, given Iran’s human rights violations in Iran’s detention facilities, sparked Amnesty International’s statement.

Security forces fired at protesters, injuring at least one and arresting over 10, of which only 7 have been released.
The report below was published by Amnesty International: Iranian authorities must carry out an impartial and thorough investigation into reports that security forces used unnecessary and excessive force, possibly including firearms, against generally peaceful protesters during recent protests in Khuzestan province, where people have been demanding clean and safe drinking water, Amnesty International said today.
Reports by Persian-language media outside Iran have indicated that the number of protesters injured in the demonstration in Khorramshahr on 30 June [2018] was higher than that disclosed by the authorities.
It may therefore only be used for dispersal if violence has reached such a level that security forces cannot contain the threat by means which can directly affect the violent individuals only.
Amnesty International calls on the Iranian authorities to ensure that there is an impartial and effective investigation into the use of force by the security forces in the demonstrations in Khorramshahr on 30 June, with a view to establishing responsibilities and accountability of the officers involved, including at various levels of the command structure in charge during those events.
According to Human Rights Activists News Agency, an independent human rights group, dozens of people have been arrested in Khorramshahr, Abadan, and Ahvaz in connection with the protests, though at least seven individuals from Ahvaz are reported to have since been released.
Iran has experienced serious water problems for years, depriving people frequently of their human right to have adequate access to clean and safe water.
Khuzestan is one of the provinces that has been particularly affected by Iran’s water crisis.
Clean, safe water is crucial for human survival and health, and this is reflected in international human rights law, where access to adequate clean and safe drinking water is a key right.
Access to traditional water sources in rural areas should be protected from unlawful encroachment and pollution.” In her 2013 report, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation stated, "Human rights standards demand that States invest the ‘maximum available resources’ in water and sanitation sectors.

Roughly 200 people were arrested during recent protests which started on June 30 in the southern cities of Khorramshahr and Abadan over drinking water shortages.
The number is far higher than the 10 people the judiciary media reported to be detained.
The purified-water shortage in southwestern Iran saw the staging of one of the largest water-related protests in Iran this year.
A video posted on social media displayed police firing tear gas at demonstrators, and gunfire was heard in the background.
Iran’s judiciary also confirmed the arrest of 10 protesters.
Water shortage protests have also been reported on social media in Abadan, and the provincial capital of Ahvaz.
Allegedly, the police have been using concrete barriers to block roads leading to a central square, in an attempt to quell further protests.
The resident also claimed that there were reports of police detaining demonstrators indiscriminately.
Amnesty International released a statement on July 6, calling on Iran to ensure right to safe drinking water and release peaceful protesters in Khuzestan.
The statement reads in part, “Iranian authorities must carry out an impartial and thorough investigation into reports that security forces used unnecessary and excessive force, possibly including firearms, against generally peaceful protesters during recent protests in Khuzestan province, where people have been demanding clean and safe drinking water, Amnesty International said today.

Amnesty International has called on Iran to ensure that Iranians have access to clean water and also to carry out an independent investigation into reports that security forces used “unnecessary and excessive force” against those who peacefully protested in Khuzestan Province over water scarcity and pollution.
“Iranian authorities should also ensure that people in Khuzestan and other provinces across Iran enjoy their right to access sufficient amounts of safe drinking water for personal and domestic uses,” the rights group said in a July 6 statement.
Dozens of people recently took to the streets of Khorramshahr and several other cities in the southwest to protest against shortages of water and demand clean and safe drinking water.
Some reportedly chanted slogans against the Iranian authorities.
Shots could be heard on videos circulated on social media from the June 30 protests in the port city of Khorramshahr.
Officials had said that one civilian and several police officers were injured in the violence.
State television said an unspecified number of demonstrators had been arrested.
It claimed that some of the protesters carried firearms.
Rights activists have said that dozens were detained in Khorramshahr, Abadan, and Ahwaz in connection with the protests.
The rights group called on the Iranian authorities “to ensure that all detainees are protected from torture and other ill-treatment and that anyone held solely for peacefully exercising their right to assembly is released.” Critics say mismanagement by the authorities, combined with years of drought, has led to a drop in river and groundwater levels in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan.

Protests like those in Khorramshahr have become quite common since the turn of the year, when economic woes and government corruption triggered nationwide unrest across Iran.
But what made the Khorramshahr demonstrations different was that they took place while tens of thousands of Iranians had gathered in Paris to support protesters in Iran.
The rally had two messages.
To the people of Iran: You’re not alone.
Through their uprisings and by relying on resistance units, the Iranian people have the leverage they need to topple this regime,” said Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the Iranian opposition coalition that organized the event.
The mullahs have practically lost their [nuclear deal].
The event’s speakers, some of whom have close ties to the Trump administration, were unanimous in their belief that only regime change will solve the multitude of problems the Iranian people and the world face when it comes to the regime in Tehran.
Our goal is to have a free, democratic Iran that respects the right of every individual,” Gingrich said.
While the lives of the Iranian people spiraled down into poverty and misery, the Iranian regime was busy sending money, weapons, and troops to its proxies and allies in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen.
On the morrow of the gathering, demonstrations resumed in Khorramshahr and its neighboring cities.

Shots were reportedly fired during protests over water shortages in the southwestern city of Khorramshahr in Iran’s Khuzestan Province but the Interior Ministry has denied any fatalities.
Khuzestan, home to mostly ethnic Arabs, is Iran’s main oil producer and contains the country’s largest oil refinery but remains economically disadvantaged compared to northern provinces.
No one died in the clashes; only one person was injured on his side,” Gen. Hossein Zolfaghari, the deputy interior minister in charge of security affairs, told reporters on July 1, 2018.
Zolfaghari added that ten policemen were also injured.
The clashes began on June 29 as people protested going weeks without access to clean water.
Carrying empty canisters, dozens of people at the city’s Friday prayers chanted slogans and carried signs, “They robbed us in the name of religion,” “We don’t need useless officials” and “Your prayers are no good, no good.” In the nearby city of Abadan, where water has also been rationed for several weeks, Friday Prayer Leader Ali Najibi called on the government to urgently install water purifiers.
“The people of Abadan and Khorramshahr are facing a serious water crisis and the government has a duty to allocate a budget to buy water desalination equipment at any price,” Najibi said in a sermon on June 29.
“The citizens of Abadan and Khorramshahr cannot tolerate the water problem any longer and this crisis must come to a final resolution as soon as possible,” he added.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian warned people not to give Israel an excuse to “steal” water from Iran.
“The Zionist regime is using all the latest scientific tools to steal water in the Middle East and we should not let it interfere in our water crisis,” he said at Tehran’s Friday prayer gathering on June 29.

At least 250 people in the town of Ramhormoz, mostly children, have been poisoned due to water contamination, in the city of Ramhormoz, south west of Iran.
The city’s governor, Abdolreza Ehsani Nia was cited by the state-run IRNA news agency as declaring, “From Saturday until Monday morning, 350 poisoned people residing in the village of Abu al Fares visited the treatment centers in the city.” According to the official, 78 of these people were hospitalized in Sina, Naft Ahwaz and Ramhormoz hospitals.
He did not mention the reason of poisoning spread among hundreds of the residents.
According to reports, people who have been poisoned, live in the villages of “Shahid Rayegani”, “Setalvan” and “Kaboutari” in Abu al Fares district.
Ataollah Sherali, head of the Ramhormz health center, said the poisoned people have suffered from diarrhea and fever.
He declared the possible cause of the poisoning of these people as “contaminated with water.” The official had warned about two years ago that the water of the Abu al Fares Districts was infected because of “non-compliance with the principles of water chlorination.” According to the head of the Ramhormoz health center, the amount of chlorine at the beginning of the pipeline is high, but along the way, chlorine combines with organic matter in the water, so that at the end of the pipeline, no more chlorine left.
According to IRNA, quoting Shukrollah Salmanzadeh, head of the Khuzestan Health Center, “The cause of poisoning is certainly the consumption of contaminated water because due to 20 hours of water being cut-off, people used spring water and after the water was connected, chlorine-free water has been entering the supply networks.” However, the authorities of the Khuzestan province have denied any water pollution.
The news of recent poisoning of Ramhormoz residents came just days after protests over water shortages turned violent overnight with reports of police shooting at demonstrators, killing at list one.

Protests continued in Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province on Monday July 2, in support of protesters in the port city of Khorramshahr.
There have been reports of protest gatherings in Ahvaz, Mahshahr and Sarbandar, as well as of clashes in Abadan, where Iran’s largest oil refinery is located.
The government on Sunday denied reports of one man being killed when security forces opened fire in Khorramshahr Saturday night, but admitted 11 have been injured, some seriously.
As protests usually flare up in the evenings and at night, it is still not clear if incidents happened today, July 2.
Official news agency IRNA reported that late on Sunday night demonstrators chanted “critical slogans” in Abadan; euphemism for slogans against the government and top state officials.
“The police attempted to disperse demonstrators in Abadan, but they fought back by throwing pieces of rocks and wood at the police,” IRNA reported.
Meanwhile, Ali Sari, MP from Ahvaz, told the Iranian Students News Agency ISNA that some towns and cities in Khuzestan province, especially Khorramshahr and Abadan, suffer from serious water shortage.
Sari told another news agency, ILNA (The Iranian Labor News Agency), “Hundreds of protest gatherings are serious indications that there is something wrong in Khuzestan.” Some of the videos released on social media show people chanting slogans in Arabic or complaining in Arabic about their problems, a possible sign that they are frustrated by Iranian officials who have ignored their complaints in Persian.
It is this alarming situation that might have prompted the government to over-react to protests in Khorramshahr, where security forces opened fire at demonstrators and attempted to disperse them by firing tear gas Saturday night.
Videos released on social media also show demonstrators making bonfires to reduce the impact of tear gas.

Gunfire erupted as Iranian security forces confronted protesters early Sunday amid demonstrations over water scarcity in the country’s south, violence that authorities said wounded at least 11 people, mostly police.
The unrest there only compounds the wider unease felt across Iran as it faces an economic crisis sparked by President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
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A deputy to Fazli later said the violence wounded one civilian and 10 police officers, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.
Exacerbating that unrest is the drought.
Some 230 people were poisoned in Khuzestan province after a 20-hour water outage in Ramhormoz county led to drinking water not being chlorinated, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Sunday.
The protests overnight came after three days of demonstrations last week in Tehran, including protesters confronting police outside parliament and officers firing tear gas at the demonstrators.
At least 25 people were killed and nearly 5,000 arrested during the protests in late December and early January, which took place largely in Iran’s provinces rather than the capital.
Iran’s first Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri on Sunday mocked the U.S. for "begging the Saudis" to increase oil production to drive down rising global oil prices.
Trump claimed Saturday that Saudi Arabia might increase its production by some 2 million barrels of oil a day after a call with King Salman.