{"id":251135,"date":"2021-11-21T03:50:45","date_gmt":"2021-11-21T08:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=251135"},"modified":"2023-02-01T04:38:29","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T03:38:29","slug":"iran-news-in-brief-november-21-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-news-in-brief-november-21-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran News in Brief \u2013 November 21, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

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THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS<\/h2>\n

UPDATE: 10:00 AM CET<\/span><\/p>\n

State Media Warns About the Aftermath of Isfahan Protests<\/h3>\n

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In recent days, the Iranian state media have been publishing numerous reports and analyses about the grave situation of water shortages in different provinces and warned that this trend is going to turn into nationwide unrest.<\/p>\n

The state-run newspaper Ebtekar wrote today: “In the five provinces of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Lorestan, Yazd, Isfahan and Khuzestan, the water crisis has turned into a water tension. There have been occasional attacks against water transfer facilities from Isfahan to Yazd, and on the other hand, the people of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Khuzestan, and Lorestan have complained that their water is being transferred from springs to other provinces.”<\/p>\n

Ebtekar added: “Most farmers in Khuzestan province have not been able to cultivate since the summer. The province is facing a water shortage crisis, and in the last days of July and the first week of August this year, there were widespread protests in Khuzestan province against water shortages and lack of water for farmlands.”<\/p>\n

The state-run newspaper Mostaghel blamed the water crisis on the state’s systemic mishandling and wrote on the same day: “The water mafia and its tunnels are drying up underground waters like a vacuum cleaner. This has been very beneficial for them but it has darkened the future for Iran. And now, the Vice President and the Minister of Energy are being overwhelmed by a large crowd who have gathered because of the crises that have been created by factories who took all that water. Would you be happy to see the people of Lorestan revolt with their guns tomorrow?”<\/p>\n

The paper warned: “Protests against the results of the 2009 elections, protests against high prices in 2017 and finally the protests in 2019… turned political with strong security and political repercussions… Why and how are incapable forces within the system turning protesters into regime changers?”<\/p>\n

Also, the state-run Arman newspaper wrote today: “The rhetoric of maximalists fell short, and now a crisis that is even more important than gasoline and any other basic commodity has finally arisen, so that there is no way back and forth, at least in the short term…”<\/p>\n

Arman added: “While Isfahani farmers want water for their farmlands, hundreds of villages in Yazd and Khuzestan do not even have water to drink and water is being taken to them by tanker at the lowest level possible!\u00a0The magnitude of the water crisis will consume all the time, energy, capacity, and facilities of the country. A crisis that, if left unchecked… may really lead us to a dangerous point.”<\/p>\n

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Khamenei’s Representative Calls for Restricting Social Media<\/h3>\n

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Khamenei’s representative in Rasht, Rasul Falahati said: “The Council of the Cultural Revolution failed to prepare plans in the field of policy-making, about women, about propaganda, about universities, about the media, about culture. Nor did they have a policy regarding how to counter the cultural aggression! Giant media entered our lives. The global mass media, social media networks, virtual networks, mobile networks… they all came into human life and the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution did not have any countermeasures for that. One has to ask why?”<\/p>\n

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UPDATE: 4:30 AM CET<\/span><\/p>\n

State-affiliated Expert Blames Systemic Corruption for the Water Crisis<\/h3>\n

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Mohammadreza Mahboubfar, a state-affiliated expert, mocked the regime leaders’ claim about water shortages while saying: “The most ridiculous excuse is that water is being transferred to Isfahan from other provinces. But if that had really happened, neither Zayandeh Rud would have dried up nor would we face the challenge of subsidence.”<\/p>\n

According to the state-run Javan newspaper, Mahboubfar added: “If you would strip economic organizations and the water mafia [IRGC-affiliated organizations] of their control over the nation’s water resources, the drought problem of the country’s rivers would certainly reduce.”<\/p>\n

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Sunday Protests in Iran<\/h3>\n

The people of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province gathered today from different parts of the province in Shahrekord, the capital of the province, and stood up against the looting of water by the fraudulent state. Aiming their slogans against the regime and its propaganda machine, the protestors chanted: “Our shame, our radio and television!” as well as “The Bakhtiari will rather die than giving in to disgrace!”<\/p>\n

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November 21 – Shahrekord, central #Iran<\/a>
Locals in this & other cities of Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari province took to the streets protesting the regime's destructive policies of rerouting local rivers that have devastated people's lives.#IranProtests<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/h9R0r25uNL<\/a><\/p>\n

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 21, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n