With Tehran’s markets and bazaars still shuttered, the people of Khuzestan took to the streets to protest the worsening drought across the province.
The Latest Protests in Khuzestan
Khuzestan once enjoyed rich, fertile soil, which yielded plentiful harvests for the local population, driving economic growth and prosperity. Instead, after years of water mismanagement at the hands of the mullahs, the same soil that was once the lifeblood of this region, is now crippling dry.
The mullahs diverted natural water sources away from Khuzestan. They built dams against the advice of experts and drained the Hoorolazim wetland for oil exploration. The mullahs rape of the natural landscape to line their pockets has left Khuzestan without water. The little water that remains is so salinated that it is damaging the farmlands.
The Most Anti-Regime Province?
The residents of Khuzestan hold around 900 anti-regime demonstrations a year. It is Iran’s most active anti-government province. On June 20th, protestors destroyed water pipelines diverting the province’s water supply.
As a token gesture to silence the protestors, the clerical regime has granted residents of Khuzestan free water use for the months of June and July. But the gesture is largely futile. Free water will not bring the water back to the region or allow the crops to grow and restore the region’s wealth.
The Economy in Decline
Elsewhere, the mullahs are also scrambling to calm angry protestors. In Tehran, merchants and shopkeepers have been on strike for the last four days. The mullahs’ ineptitude at managing the Iranian economy has left the country in an economic spiral.
The Iranian currency has lost more than half its value against the US dollar over the last six months. Inflation is rocketing, with prices increasing hourly. Merchants in Tehran have seen their profit margins evaporate and are staring down the barrel of bankruptcy.
With no end to the crisis in sight, Iranian traders are coming to the conclusion that the only way out of this economic freefall is through regime change. That is why protests against Rouhani and his regime have intensified among shopkeepers in recent weeks. While the regime buries its head in the sand, refusing to admit fault or accept responsibility, the people are mobilising in greater numbers.
Free Iran Rally
The timing of the protests in Khuzestan and Tehran is no accident. The Iranian opposition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK), are preparing for their annual “Free Iran” Rally in Paris.
On June 30th, over 100,000 supporters of the Iranian opposition movement will gather in Paris, including high-profile supporters from the political landscapes of the US, Europe, Asia, Canada and Australia.
President-elect of the NCRI, Maryam Rajavi, will address those in attendance and draw international attention to the struggle that the Iranian population face in their crusade for regime change. The people of Iran have used their protests to cry out for regime change. But the policy stance from the West has not responded accordingly. The Free Iran Rally in Paris will show the world what a democratic Iran would look like. It will present a viable alternative to the regime’s rule of terror.
The event has already drawn support from prominent global figures. John Pritchard, the former Bishop of Oxford, and Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, are all among those that have pledged their support to the NCRI and the MEK.
At last year’s event, former French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner, former President of Germany’s Bundestag Rita Suessmuth, US Senator Joe Lieberman, US Governor Ed Rendell, and former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich, all attended the prestigious Free Iran Rally.
The NCRI and Maryam Rajavi will keep the wheels of the Iranian resistance movement moving. They will carry Iran to a brighter, democratic future, free from economic crisis and drought. The world will hear the voices of the Iranian population on June 30th.
