Peaceful protests by the people of Khuzestan against reckless dam construction and water crisis began on Friday, July 16, 2021. These protests were met with violence by law enforcement and security forces, resulting in the death of at least 10 young protesters and the arrest and injury of hundreds more. Some also tried to portray the protests in Khuzestan as a security issue and attempted to link them to foreign countries in order to justify the government’s violent response, despite the fact that the protests were peaceful and civil in nature. On Thursday, July 22, the Coordination Council of Iranian Cultural Associations, the Union of Retirees, the Free Workers Union, the Workers Syndicate of a major company, and a group of civil activists spoke out in support of Khuzestan and declared their solidarity with the people through statements on the “Bloody Days of Khuzestan”. In addition to these statements, a large number of social media users, former political

Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, two former presidents, reacted to the protests in Khuzestan and criticized the security forces’ treatment of protesters, attributing the protests to mismanagement. They also pointed out that the Karun Dam, built during the era of reforms and development, has had a destructive impact on the decrease of water and increase of dust in Khuzestan.

In cities like Daroud, Touiserkan, Ghahderijan, and Izeh, people struggle with water scarcity. During the government’s dam construction projects in Khuzestan, many residents of Izeh were forced to leave their villages due to the construction of Karun 3 dam. Nearly ten thousand villagers were affected by the dam’s water diversion and were forced to leave their homes. The economic situation of these regions worsened and the residents faced difficulties in agriculture due to water scarcity and poverty.

Fifteen dams have been built on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, along with the Ataturk Dam, which captures all the water from these rivers. This water is then diverted to the Hoor Al-Azim marshes by Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. This has caused significant water shortages and created major problems. According to statistics, 25% of the Hoor Al-Azim marshes have dried up, leading to the loss of livestock for the people of southern Khuzestan.

Nouri Al-Hamza, a journalist and political activist, said in an interview with me: “During the reign of Reza Shah and after the revolution, in the Rafsanjani era, they started building dams in the Khuzestan region. From the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari region, they built a dam and tunnel towards Isfahan and diverted water from Isfahan to Yazd; the rest of the water goes towards Zayandehrood, Bahadoran, Kerman, and Yazd, and from the Dez River, they divert water towards Qom. They took 95% of the water to other cities; the people of Khuzestan only use 5% of the water, which has turned into swamps and is no longer usable.”

He continues, “The construction of the Karkeh Dam caused the Great Lake to dry up and alongside it, the oil company also extracted oil there, causing even more water to dry up. This led to a crisis for the people who relied on the lake for drinking water and agriculture. A environmental disaster occurred and many species of birds were killed. The people used to fish there and it was a vast body of water; after it dried up, it turned into mostly dust.”

The journalist continues, “The people protested against the water shortage and this environmental disaster peacefully. Their livestock and fish were killed. They are facing unemployment and poverty, but they are not allowed to peacefully protest. The government has been neglectful in managing these areas and has not implemented proper policies. Many people in these areas have experienced forced displacement and have changed the demographics; after the protests, many young people have been arrested and their lives are in danger.”

Dr. Mansour Sohrabi, a researcher in ecology and environmental studies, also stated in an interview with me: “The development in the rivers that flow into Khuzestan is not balanced. Agriculture has greatly expanded in this area. Water extraction has increased, the population has grown, and as a result, there is more water depletion. We also see imbalanced and uneven development in the industry; water-intensive industries have expanded in the central plateau where major industries such as steel, iron, and tile production exist, but there is not enough water for these industries. Therefore, they transfer water from the Karun and Dez branches, and all of this, along with the development in Khuzestan, can play a major role in the water crisis in Khuzestan.”

Sohrabi continues: “Agriculture in Khuzestan province is very imbalanced. We have over one million hectares of irrigated land in Khuzestan. There, crops such as sugar cane, rice, sugar beets, and corn, which require a lot of water, have expanded. This year, 120,000 hectares of sugar cane and 90,000 hectares of rice were cultivated. Each of these has consumed about three and a half billion cubic meters of water. In Khuzestan, 400,000 hectares of wheat were cultivated this year, consuming more than two billion cubic meters of water. In addition, with the implementation of Ayatollah Khamenei’s 550,000-hectare plan, which 290 hectares were implemented in 2013 and they wanted to implement the rest this year and next year, the problems in Khuzestan will worsen. They dried up the Hoor Al-Azim wetland

“We are thirsty,” “Where is our river,” “Karun and Karkheh are our life” were slogans heard on the streets of Ahvaz, Khorramshahr, Hamidiyeh, Mahshahr, Susangerd, Shush, Abadan, and Shadegan. Among the protesters’ slogans, however, there are a few demands that all protesters share. These demands all stem from the thirst of the people of Khuzestan. Khuzestan has always been a fertile land and its people have made a living through agriculture, but due to the wrong policies of the government, they have been pushed to the margins.