Two-minute read
In the sweltering heat of July 2025, a severe crisis of water and electricity outages is gripping Iran, pushing citizens past their breaking point and igniting protests that directly target the clerical regime’s leadership. From the parched communities of Marvdasht to the sprawling urban centers of Tehran and Shiraz, the public’s desperation over failed basic services is rapidly transforming into open calls for an end to the dictatorship.
In Marvdasht, a city in the southern Fars province, the daily struggle for survival has become overwhelming. Residents report going for extended periods without access to water, a crisis that has paralyzed daily life and local commerce. “We haven’t had water for a week,” one resident cried out in frustration. Another added, “We have no water to drink, what are we supposed to do?”
The crisis has crippled essential businesses. A local baker described being forced to use saltwater to make dough for bread. “How can I make dough?” he asked. “The other day, we had to fill up a 500-liter container from a pickup truck in Marvdasht and bring it here just so people could have bread. Now, we’ll either have to shut down or… what will happen to these people?”
#Tehran’s Looming Water Crisis: A National Emergency Decades in the Makinghttps://t.co/t18FDZru8n
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 23, 2025
The hardship is both immediate and long-term. One citizen reported personally paying for a water truck to supply his village for 12 consecutive days until he ran out of fuel. Another resident lamented that for months, they have received only “a trickle of water.” This dire situation, a predictable outcome of years of systemic neglect and resource mismanagement, highlights the regime’s profound failure to meet the most basic needs of its people.
Political Defiance in Major Cities
The public’s desperation is now boiling over into overt political defiance on the streets of Iran’s major cities. On the night of July 22, 2025, citizens in both Tehran and Shiraz took to the streets during widespread blackouts. Their chants left no doubt as to the target of their anger.
In neighborhoods across Shiraz, shouts of “Death to the dictator!” echoed through the darkness, transforming a protest over utility failures into a direct challenge to the ruling system. Simultaneously in the capital, Tehran, citizens voiced the same fury. Near Tehran University, protesters chanted “Death to the dictator!” and “Death to Khamenei!”, directly blaming the regime’s supreme leader for their misery. An eyewitness in Tehran noted the significant presence and vocal role of women among the protesters.
Protests Over Water Shortages in Iran https://t.co/QG85OZx8qs pic.twitter.com/1s0Zk3IhLA
— Iran Focus (@Iran_Focus) July 23, 2025
A Unified Cry for Change
The events in Marvdasht, Tehran, and Shiraz are not isolated incidents but connected expressions of a nationwide sentiment. The Iranian people are increasingly linking their daily suffering—the lack of water, the power outages, and the economic decay—directly to the fundamental illegitimacy and corruption of the clerical regime.
The cry for water has become inseparable from the cry for political freedom. By failing to provide the most basic necessities of life, the regime is fueling the very movement that seeks its downfall, demonstrating that its foundation is more brittle than ever.