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Online videos show police firing tear gas and fighting protesters with batons in a central Iranian city that has seen days of demonstrations demanding government action over a drought

ByThe Associated Press

November 26, 2021, 4:20 PM

2 min read

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Police fired tear gas and fought protesters with batons on Friday in a central Iranian city that has seen days of demonstrations demanding government action over a drought, online videos show.

The social media videos and others from activists show police and protesters clashing in the dry bed of the Zayandehrud River in the city of Isfahan. The videos correspond to reporting by The Associated Press and satellite images of the area, as well as some semiofficial Iranian news agency accounts of the unrest.

Some videos show demonstrators at one point throwing stones at police, while others show bloodied protesters. They also show similar unrest in nearby streets of Isfahan, 340 kilometers (210 miles) south of the capital, Tehran.

The Iranian semiofficial Fars news agency said a heavy presence of security forces brought the gathering of some 500 people in Isfahan to an end. A separate report carried by the semiofficial Tasnim agency said unknown perpetrators had damaged a pipeline that transfers waters from Isfahan to other provinces Thursday night.

People in Isfahan later Friday reported mobile internet service being disrupted in the city, without explanation. Iran in the past has shut down both mobile and landline internet to halt protests.

Farmers reportedly had ended a long protest in the area on Thursday, after authorities promised to compensate them for losses suffered in drought-stricken areas of central Iran.

Drought has been a problem in Iran for some 30 years, but it has worsened over the past decade, according to the U.N.s Food and Agriculture Organization. The Iran Meteorological Organization says that an estimated 97% of the country now faces some level of drought.

The farming area around Isfahan was once well supplied by the Zayandehrud River, but nearby factories have increasingly drawn on it over the years. The river once flowed under historic bridges in Isfahans city center, but is now a barren strip of dirt.

In 2012, farmers clashed with police in a town in Isfahan province, breaking a water pipe that diverted some 50 million cubic meters of water a year to a neighboring province. Similar protests have continued sporadically since then.

Read more from the original source:
Police fire tear gas at protesters in Iran's city of Isfahan - ABC News