A number of the proposed ministers are also former commanders of the Revolutionary Guards whose only specialty was suppressing the people.

On Wednesday, August 11, Ebrahim Raisi, the new president of Iran, introduced the names of his cabinet ministers to Iran’s parliament. 

A brief look at the proposed ministers clearly shows that, as expected, with these ministers and their boss, Raisi, no serious changes will occur in the management or, better say, in the country’s mismanagement.

Most of Raisi’s proposed ministers held ministerial positions in Ahmadinejad’s cabinet, and there is almost no new face among them. Looking at the titles of each of these proposed ministers, it can be seen that a significant number of them carry the title “doctor…”, Doctor this and that! The reality is that none of these guys hold a real and legitimate doctoral degree. Several of them claim that they are in their last year of university and are in the process of writing their dissertation.

Ali Akbar Mehrabian – proposed Minister of Energy, or Seyed Ezatullah Zarghami – proposed Minister of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism, claims to be a Ph.D. student in communications. Seyed Reza Fatemi Amin – proposed Minister of Industry, Mines, and Trade, he claims to be in the process of obtaining an encyclopedia Ph.D. in Strategic Knowledge Management.

Several others consider themselves “Doctoral Students,” a newly formed term that no one knows what it may mean and what educational process they have. In the best scenario, it may mean that these ministers do not possess any doctoral degrees but have studied at the doctoral level. All and all, these are just playing with words and gimmicky tricks to add credentials to their worthless portfolio and deceive ordinary people.

This group is not small in numbers. It includes Ehsan Khandouzi – proposed Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Hojjatullah Abdul Maleki – proposed Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, Amin Hossein Rahimi – proposed Minister of Justice, Mohammad Mehdi Ismaili, proposed Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Ahmad Vahidi – proposed Minister Country, and Javad Oji – proposed Minister of Oil.

Well, one could obviously guess the ministerial expertise of the rest of Raisi’s cabinet. Of course, this is not surprising at all because Ebrahim Raisi himself only went to school at the elementary level and then continued his education in the seminary in religious studies. Of course, at the age of 18-19, he dropped out of school when the anti-monarchical revolution took place in 1979. He started working as a prosecutor in the judiciary and started issuing death sentences for Khomeini’s opponents right off the bat.

A number of the proposed ministers are also former commanders of the Revolutionary Guards whose only specialty was suppressing the people. These ministers include Rostam Ghasemi, Ahmad Vahidi and Ezatullah Zarghami.

It should be noted that Ezatullah Zarghami was one of the hostage-takers of the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979. He was the IRGC brigadier general and one of the IRGC’s first missile officials. Zarghami was also in charge of Iran’s radio and television censorship apparatus for a decade.

In a democratic country, these indicators are clear evidence that none of the proposed ministers have the necessary ministerial qualifications, expertise, or management skills to be proposed to such positions. However, in Iran, because the criteria in the religious dictatorship are not expertise and education, but obedience to Khamenei and support for reactionary policies and fundamentalism, these individuals have plenty of credentials. They have proved to be the right fit.

Interestingly, Raisi, the new president and several of his cabinet members, including his deputy, Mohammad Mokhber, Qaraei, Ezatullah Zarghami, Rostam Ghasemi, and Ahmad Vahidi, are on the US and EU sanctions list. Proposed Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi is also wanted by The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) for his role in the 1994 terrorist bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.

In international relations, since the regime’s policy from the beginning was based on the export of the so-called Islamic Revolution of the kind established in Iran to other Muslim countries, instead of interaction and cooperation and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, the Iranian regime has been supporting armed militant groups in different countries of the region and has continuously carried out terrorist operations.

The proposed foreign minister, Hussein Amir Abdullahian, who is said to be specialized in Arab and African countries, has been the director-general of the Persian Gulf and the Middle East at Iran’s foreign ministry for some time. According to himself, in making decisions, he always consulted with the demised commander of the Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani and he followed the lines of the terrorist forces of the Quds Force in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

There is no doubt that he will follow the same policy as Iran’s new foreign minister. 

With all these pieces of Raisi’s government in place, the United States, and the European Union should not expect any changes in the destructive behavior of the Iranian regime and count on changing its behavior through negotiation or giving more chances to test the new government. As in the past, Khamenei will use any given opportunity to advance his evil plans in the region.

The fact is that after the revolution, in order to achieve his goals and establish a religious dictatorship in Iran, first, Khomeini forced Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan, a national figure, to resign by attacking the US embassy and taking hostages. Furthermore, he banned any presidential candidate opposing the regime from participating in Iran’s first presidential election, particularly Masoud Rajavi, the leader of the Mujahedin, who had a good chance of being elected, but was not allowed to run in the presidential election.

One year after the first presidential election, Khomeini planned a coup to topple the newly formed government, ensuring that the next government would be very close to his own ideal. 

Since then, the selection index for cabinet ministers has been the same. As a result, we see that over the past 40 years, Iran has regressed in all areas, social and economic. The Iranian people, who had hoped for a better lifestyle after the revolution, not only lost their individual liberties but are now living in the worst living situations.

High unemployment, skyrocketing inflation, water shortage, power outages, colossal government corruption… have caused more than 80% of the population to live below the poverty line.

The middle class is almost completely wiped out, and , more than 35% of people in Iran’s metropolitan areas have been driven to shantytowns in outskirts of cities due to inability to pay high rents and live-in squalid housings that lack the minimum necessities of a family.

The ignorance and mismanagement of the Iranian officials have now caused more than 2,000 people to die every day due to the lack of Covid-19 vaccinations and lack of medicine and medical equipment. According to reliable sources, the number of victims of the disease has now reached more than 360,000. The situation is so catastrophic that some cemeteries no longer have room for new dead bodies.

Now with these new ministers and their close to zero contents in their portfolios, no one should hope for any real changes taking place. On the other hand, since Raisi and his proposed ministers have ample expertise in corruption, embezzlement, deceiving the social and economic forecast of the Iranian society is going to take a turn for the worst.  

Cracking down the uprisings, protests, strikes, social unrests, expanding its secret nuclear technology to acquire a nuclear bomb and export of terrorism in the region are expected to be the new government’s top priorities. 

However, given the public discontent in Iran, which is seen daily in mass protests and demonstrations in various cities where slogans such as “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei” has become commonplace, according to informed observers, it is unlikely that Raisi and his cabinet will reach the end of its 4-year term and will most likely be overthrown by the people before that.

Cyrus Yaqubi is a Research Analyst and Iranian Foreign Affairs Commentator investigating the social issues and economy of the Middle East countries in general and Iran in particular.

Iran is at the bottom of the world school rankings, ranking 51st out of 76 countries.

While teachers all over the world have a special respect among the people and even governments and consider the responsibility of the teacher even higher than the responsibility of parents, but in Iran under the rule of the mullahs, the job of a teacher not only is not credible but also Iranian teachers do not even have minimums of an ordinary life. Teachers’ salaries are not even enough to support their living expenses, and many of them have to work in other means, such as Uber drivers to make ends meet.

Most teachers are tenants and do not even dream of owning a home. In the past few years, the clerical regime, in order not to be burdened with teachers’ pensions, has hired temporary teachers to have a free hand to fire them whenever they want. Some of these teachers, who now have 10 years of service, are still working temporarily, and the Ministry of Education say they are not eligible for employment.

Of course, according to them, the necessary condition means full commitment to the government of the Supreme Leader and not educational competencies. As Khamenei said in his speech on the occasion of Teacher’s Day to the Minister and directors of education: “It should not be the case that everyone enters education like this.” Teachers must have passed the “filter of Farhangian University”, which meant the filter of dependence on Velayat-e-Faqih.

And while the Iranian education system is facing a shortage of 197,000 full-time teachers, more than 58 thousand Employed as a temporary teacher. Of these, only 6% are insured and more than 94% do not have health insurance premiums. This situation has caused teachers to protest continuously in the past few years and demand their rights in various gatherings in all cities of Iran.

But instead of heeding their demands, the regime has cracked down on teachers by arresting, detaining, firing, deporting their leaders, and effectively reducing their salaries by reducing their teaching hours.

According to education officials over the past year, they have been able to save 40% on education costs. On the other hand, by implementing a privatization policy in order to make the most of teachers, on the one hand, imposes comprehensive poverty on teachers, and on the other hand, by building private schools for the rich class of the society who are affiliated with the government, they have practically provided the most educational opportunities for these people.

For example, in a private school, there are 12 students in each class, while in a public school, there are at least 38 students in one class. At the same time, while public or regular schools should not charge students and according to the constitution, education should be free, but these schools also force families to pay various fees as voluntary assistance.

This is the situation of education and schools in big cities. In small and remote towns, the situation of schools is indescribable and must be seen to believe. There are hundreds of hut schools in the southern provinces of the country, such as Sistan and Baluchestan and Kerman, which have almost no facilities such as water and electricity or even benches and chairs for students.

And according to the Islamic Republic News Agency, there are about 5,000 container schools in the country, which are very cold in the cold regions and very hot in the south of the country, and are absolutely not suitable for education. In the cities, more than 30% of schools are dilapidated, which due to the fact that Iran is located in an earthquake-prone area, in the event of an earthquake during school hours, we have to wait for heavy losses due to the destruction of these schools.

As a result of all these policies of the regime, not only the teachers but also the students are the ones who have suffered the most from this situation.

As recent studies show every year, the literacy level of high school students goes down and down.

And Iran is at the bottom of the world school rankings, ranking 51st out of 76 countries.

It is clear that this situation cannot last for long because people know that Iran is one of the richest countries in the world and the main reason for this situation is the widespread corruption of the ruling system, which instead of considering the educational situation only thinks of looting more and more for their own interests. And sooner or later the protests that are now being carried out peacefully by the teachers will turn into a raging river that will destroy the existing corrupt government in its path.

Cyrus Yaqubi is a Research Analyst and Iranian Foreign Affairs Commentator investigating the social issues and economy of the middle east countries in general and Iran in particular.

The necessary factors for massive, widespread and regime-changing protests are well in place.

The five days of protests by locals in Sistan-Baluchestan, Iran’s most
impoverished province, shows how volatile Iran is.

The protests began when Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps created obstacles and dug large ditches on the roads to prevent the flow of fuel to neighboring Pakistan by Baluch fuel traders.

The guards shot and killed dozens of innocent, defenseless people on February 22. Facing dire poverty, violent repression, and constant violations of their dignity, the fuel traders rebelled against the Revolutionary Guards. The people staged a strike action on February 25 and closed their shops.

They took their anger to the streets and government offices, occupying and destroying them fearlessly, despite the Revolutionary Guards and security and law enforcement forces’ heavy presence.

The guards fired directly at the protestors and used tear gas to disperse them. The Iranian authorities, unable to contain the protests despite firing and killing and bringing in armored vehicles, cut off the Internet and flew helicopters over Zahedan to intimidate the protestors.

Of course, the show of anger and dissatisfaction in Sistan-Baluchestan province is just the tip of the iceberg. The state’s looting, corruption, ignorance and mismanagement have now reached such a level that, according to regime officials, 96 percent of the poor and hungry people are several times below the poverty line on the one hand; and 4% of government officials and offices and those affiliated with Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards, are in the possession of key monetary sources and investments in Iran.

On February 25, Mohebati, the governor of Sistan-Baluchestan, also warned that if protests turned into a revolution “all the officials would do down together”.

After so many years of corruption, repression and mismanagement by the regime and their inability to govern, the Iranian society has reached the point of explosion. In other words, the necessary factors for massive, widespread and regime-changing protests are well in place.

Even a minor and insignificant friction between the people and the government will cause a spark that can spread to other cities. The Sistan and Baluchestan protests and the November 2019 protests are testimony to this.

According to remarks made by many of the regime’s officials and analysts, the next uprising in Iran is not even comparable to those in November 2019 or December 2018.

Mostaghel state-run daily wrote on February 23 that Iranians would use “weapons and explosives” to counter the regime in future protests.

What made the Sistan and Baluchestan protests in Saravan significant was the rapid spread of protests and attacks against security forces by angry locals.

Protesters stormed a Governor’s Office and IRGC bases and torched police vehicles.

Despite Iran’s attempt to block the Internet, the news of the unrest was spread widely and was accompanied by widespread popular support throughout Iran. Other neighboring cities, including Iranshahr, Zahedan and Khash staged their own strikes, closed their shops in support of Saravan.

Amateur video from the Saravan showed that protesters fought with security forces empty-handed and were not afraid of bullets shot back at them. The recent Sistan and Baluchestan protests send a clear message to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

In the 1979 revolution against the Shah, the protests reached a point when every shot fired by the military and the Shah’s army, led to more anger and protests which eventually led to the overthrow of the Pahlavi dictatorship. This will happen again in Iran.

Cyrus Yaqubi is a Research Analyst and Iranian Foreign Affairs Commentator investigating the economy of the middle east countries that are relying on the oil revenue and comparing their progress to their ruling system, specially covering a variety of topics about Iran.

These protests showed the Iranian society’s explosive state and how a spark could trigger protests.

Today marks the 8th day of Sistan and Baluchestan protests that started in Saravan, southeastern Iran. The protests erupted on February 22 when the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) opened fire and killed fuel porters in Saravan county, near the Iran-Pakistan border. IRGC forces in the Saravan border area opened fire on a group of Baluch fuel porters, killing and injuring several people.

The regime shut down or disrupted internet connections on Wednesday night to quell the Sistan and Baluchestan protests. However, sporadic clashes and other forms of protest have continued and have spread to several other cities in the province including in the provincial capital, Zahedan.

On Saturday, the youth in Dashtyari county blocked the road to Bahukalat in protest to the killing of fuel traders at the Saravan border crossing.

In the city of Zabol, security forces are on high alert. Security forces have set up several check points in the city. According to reports from Doust Mohammad, there’s a heavy presence of security forces across the county.

Under severe pressure by protests across Sistan and Baluchestan and fearing the expansion of protests to other parts of Iran, the regime was forced to restore the work permit of some fuel traders. IRGC units have evacuated some of their border outposts in fear of protests.

A citizen reported on Saturday: “We’re still facing an internet blackout. We tried to take our wounded to locations where security forces could not harm them. Since yesterday evening, we brought a few nurses and doctors from 400 kilometers away to tend to the wounded. I haven’t slept in two days. We just had short access to internet 30 minutes ago in Zahedan.”

According to citizen reports from Zahedan, the city is in a state of martial law. Security forces are filling the streets and the regime has brought reinforcements from neighboring cities and towns. Some of the units have been brought in from the neighboring Kerman province. The government is continuously dispatching reinforcements from other provinces including Isfahan, in central Iran and neighboring Kerman.

Military helicopters continue to fly over many cities, including Zahedan and Ghaleh Bid.

On Friday, Reporters Without Borders expressed concern over the regime-imposed internet blackout across Sistan and Baluchestan “to deprive the population of independent information on the uprising that took place after several civilians were killed by the border police of Baluchistan and to better repress without witnesses.”

On Saturday US State Department Expresed its concern over the state violence agianst the balouch citizens .

Military helicopters continue to fly over many cities, including Zahedan and Ghaleh Bid.

On the other hand while trying to undermine people’s justified anger of the regime’s oppressive measures, Ahmad Ali Mohebati, Sistan and Baluchistan’s governor, warned the regime’s officials:

“We are now in an atmosphere where rationality does not prevail, but emotions and excitement prevail [i.e., people’s hatred toward the regime], we must be vigilant. If something unpleasant happens, the dry or wet, hardliner or reformist and all officials will burn together,” he said on Thursday.

The recent uprising in Sistan and Baluchistan has several characteristics:

1- These protests showed the Iranian society’s explosive state and how a spark could trigger protests.

2- Protests rapidly spread across the province.

3- The uprising received wide social support from the Iranian people, with small businesses going on strike in solidarity with the uprising.

4- The uprising also showed that despite its hollow power exhibition, the regime’s local oppressive forces are not able to control the situation. Thus, the regime has to send forces from other cities, showing the regime’s force mobilization crisis in facing a nationwide uprising.

In a nutshell, the ongoing protests in Sistan and Baluchistan foretell an inevitable uprising in Iran which will succeed to end the mullahs’ 42 years of oppression.

Hassan Mahmoudi is a Europe-based social analyst, researcher, independent observer, and commentator of Middle Eastern and Iranian Politics. He tweets under @hassan_mahmou1. 

The regime has killed at least 120,000 dissidents during its 42-year rule.

Forty-two years ago, Iranians, fed up with the oppression of the 50-year-old dictatorship of the Pahlavi dynasty, joined hands in hopes of gaining freedom in a revolution that overthrew the Shah in 1979. The revolution brought a new dictatorship to power. A theocracy that still rules today with an iron hand. But what has the clerical regime achieved after 42 years?   

Political and civil liberties

Iranians wanted freedom more than anything else in the 1979 revolution. The founder of the Islamic Republic, Rohullah Khomeini took advantage of the people’s desire for freedom and promised freedom to all segments of the society, especially the working class. He was able to deceive Iranians and achieve his own goals, which were the curbing of civil and political freedoms and the establishment of a religious dictatorship that is far more violent than the Shah’s. 

Forty-two year later, Iranians have been robbed of most basic individual freedoms, let alone political ones such as freedom of speech and the press.

Iranians are brutally tortured and detained for expressing their opinions or speaking out against the regime. Hundreds of political prisoners are languishing in Iran’s prisons where torture is a common practice. Any opposition to the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, even from those close to Khomeini and Khamenei who played a role in establishing the regime, are met by imprisonment, torture, and death in various forms. The regime has killed at least 120,000 dissidents during its 42-year rule.

One example is the killing of at least 30,000 political prisoners, mostly supporters of the MEK opposition group, during the summer of 1988.  They were executed according to Khomeini’s fatwa (religious decree) only because they refused to deviate from their principles and beliefs.

Censorship has been imposed on all publications, social media and the Internet. Most social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Telegram are banned in Iran. Iran ranks 173rd out of 180 countries in press freedom. If a publication writes anything against Khamenei’s opinion, it is banned, and its owners and writers arrested and imprisoned on various security charges. In short, the freedoms that Iranians demanded 42 years ago have all but disappeared, making conditions much worse than before the revolution, under the Shah.  

Human rights

Deprivation of liberties does not only include civil and political freedoms. The Iranian regime systematically violates the rights of all Iranians including ethnic and religious minorities.  Bahais are banned from practicing their religion, going to school and university and from having businesses, while Sunnis Muslims are not allowed to have their own mosques. Christians are also harassed and Christian converts are prosecuted and jailed.

For this reason, many non-Muslims, including Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and Baha’is have left their homeland to settle in other countries.

Iran’s ethnic minorities including Arabs, Kurds, Azeris and the Baluch people are systematically persecuted and executed for demanding their basic rights.

But Iranian women have suffered the most at the hands of Iran’s misogynist state. The laws imposed on women in the name of Islam have deprived them of almost all the achievements they made before the revolution. They now have almost no role in the country’s political affairs. The compulsory hijab, the right of men to divorce unilaterally, not having equal opportunities at work, not being allowed to travel without the consent of a spouse or father, and not even being allowed to go to a stadium to watch soccer matches are just some of the many restrictions they face.

Economic and public welfare

In his early speeches, Khomeini promised social welfare and said the Pahlavi Dynasty stole the people’s money, lived in palaces, and deprived the people of the country’s wealth. Khomeini promised that water and electricity would be free and that he would bring social welfare for farmers, workers and the underprivileged.

Soon after taking power, he broke his promises. He mocked the people who wanted economic welfare and said in a speech that the revolution did not happen so that people “could eat watermelons” and that it was to “bring Islam to power.”

“It is enough for people to eat one meal a day. The people fast and eat one meal a day, and it does not matter if they do not even eat meat once a month, because meat is not a good thing at all,” he said in a speech.

Over the past 42 years, Iran’s currency has lost a lot of its value. Before the revolution, one USD was equal to 7 tomans. However, a couple of months ago, the toman reached an all-time low of 30,000 tomans to the dollar. The daily fluctuations of the national currency have now become a joke for Iranians.  Due to Iran’s crumbling economy, the fluctuations have a direct effect on the price of everyday commodities. Food price inflation has reached more than 45% and impoverished Iranians have even resorted to buying bread in installments.

Most Iranians, especially the working class, farmers, employees, and the ex-middle class live below the 10 million toman poverty line. Many Iranians have not tasted meat or fruit for several months due to the high price of red meat and poultry. There were reports from the impoverished province of Sistan and Baluchestan in southeastern Iran that some villagers had been forced to eat cat and crow meat. According to a member of parliament who represents Sistan and Baluchestan, 75% of the province population suffer from malnutrition.

The Nomads Affairs Organization, a government body affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture said on February 7 that red meat consumption had decreased by 40% in Iran.

In the past 42 years, many large and small factories have gone bankrupt due to government mismanagement, lack of support for domestic products and the import of similar goods at the government foreign exchange rate. The government’s foreign exchange rate is much lower than the open market rate and provides huge profits for importers, who are mostly regime elites.

Despite daily protests and strikes by workers, nothing has changed, and the condition of workers and the working class has deteriorated.

According to official statistics, 70% of minimum wage workers are not covered by unemployment and health insurance or pensions. More than 51% of Tehran residents are living in rented homes and more than 60 million Iranians are eligible for government subsidies for daily subsistence. Phenomenons that were not seen in Iran before the revolution, such as the sale of kidneys and other body organs, are now increasingly seen across the country. Many people sell their furniture or family jewelry to cover their daily needs. Poverty and misery have increased the number of drug addicts to 4.4 million. The number of children forced to drop out of school and work to help support their families due to poverty is estimated at 5 million.

In the summer of 2020, Mohammad Reza Mahboubfar, a member of the Land Management Association of Iran, said 38 million Iranians lived in slums adding that “7.6 million people lived around cemeteries.”

“In 2017, about 40% of the urban population in Iran lived in shanty towns and poor housing. After three years, in 2020, due to inflation, the high price of housing, and increase in rent… this figure has increased to 45%,” he added.

These conditions have caused a sharp increase in suicide rates, especially among women and children. Reports of children committing suicide due to poverty and being deprived of education have turned into an almost everyday event in Iran.

State terrorism and nuclear weapons capability

Since Iran’s religious regime quickly lost popular support, it started using prison, torture and executions to wipe out its internal opposition, while using terrorism and assassinations to eradicate its external opposition. The regime has successfully eliminated many of its opponents inside and outside the country.

The regime has also spent billions of dollars to secretly acquire nuclear weapons to counter international threats. This was done at the expense of the people of Iran, who were getting more impoverished every year.

Iran’s secret nuclear program was exposed in June 1991 by the NCRI, a Paris based opposition group.  

Iran’s brain drain

Due to the current political, social, and economic situation, thousands of Iranians emigrate every year in hopes of a better life. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), between 150,000 and 180,000 educated Iranians leave Iran each year. Iran ranks number one out of 91 undeveloped countries in the world in terms of brain drain. The annual brain drain of Iranians is equivalent to the outflow of 150 billion dollars of capital. According to a 2018 estimate by Majid Hallajzadeh, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Iranian Affairs Abroad, about 7 million Iranians live abroad.

Institutionalized and systematic government corruption

It is not odd to see reports of embezzlement and corruption by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and regime officials in state-run media, Iranian press outside of Iran or on social media. These reports show only the tip of the iceberg. These days, regime official embezzle billions of dollars and unlike the rest of the population, live lives of luxury. Systematic corruption starts from the very top of the regime. Supreme Leader Khamenei owns a personal off the books hedge fund worth billions of dollars.

While most Iranians struggle to put food on the table, the government-affiliated class live in billion-dollar palaces and villas and drive luxury cars inside and outside Iran.

Although Khamenei has so far been able to continue his grip on power through the IRGC and security force by resorting to extreme violence against angry Iranians who are fed up with the regime, many analysts believe that the regime will not be able to hold on to power for long.

Cyrus Yaqubi is a Research Analyst and Iranian Foreign Affairs Commentator investigating the social issues and economy of the middle east countries in general and Iran in particular.

The government did not pay a dollar to buy the vaccine, and the fate of importing the vaccine may be the same as the flu vaccine.

Hassan Rouhani defended his actions, perhaps it does more justice to say his inaction, in dealing with coronavirus outbreak while almost all provinces of Iran are in red zones and even some are in black zone, and according to unofficial reports so far nearly 180 ,000 died and more than 1.2 million people contracted the coronavirus, and said:

“We were approaching the channel of 500 people a day, and even some predictions indicated that we would have much worse conditions with the same trend, but with measures that were taken, we reached below 400 people and we hope to have better conditions with the cooperation of the people.” He continued to justify the government’s inaction: “Using a mask, observing social distancing, and not getting together principles should always be observed. If the traffic increases and getting together starts, our problem will increase.”

Furthermore, to lower the expectation of Iranians to get vaccinated for coronavirus soon, he indirectly hinted tried to not expect receiving coronavirus vaccine and said: “We must always continue to take care, even if we are given a safe vaccine and the right dose and we could administer it, people still must follow the protocols. The effects and side effects of the vaccines are not yet known, and it is not clear what is the effectiveness of the vaccines that are supposed to be in the countries that want to start vaccination, and the side effects of these vaccines are not clear to the world.”

“Maybe some of these vaccines have side effects, so we cannot hope for a vaccine that is not yet available. Whenever a safe vaccine is found, it will not be produced as many doses as required and production capacity is limited in the world. Vaccination takes time to administer to everyone who needs it, so care should not be reduced in the hope of vaccination”, he added. “We think the vaccine will arrive and our problems will be solved, while no vaccine is 100% effective and we do not know if the virus will mutate or not, and if that happens, the vaccines should be changed.”

Rouhani blamed the people and added: “We all have a duty to impose strictures on these cases. Wherever it becomes clear that the patient has violated the quarantine, fines should be imposed on them. When we enforce a protocol and it is ratified and communicated by the coronavirus National Headquarters, our own officials are to implement it and our duty to implement it is greater and higher than that of ordinary people.”

Rouhani also justified his long absence and that of Khamenei out of fear of contracting coronavirus by quoting a verse from the Qur’an: “Whoever has a higher responsibility, and the people look up to him in government, his actions can be effective. Ministers and other agencies and all those responsible in the country must comply more than others, and if they do not comply, it will make people feel that these protocols are not very necessary, and if it was necessary, why some administration and ministry and some officials did not comply.”

Abdul Nasser Hemmati, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, also said that Tehran’s attempt to pay the World Health Organization to buy the coronavirus vaccine had been hampered by “sanctions”.

Hemmati wrote in a text posted on his Instagram page on Monday, December 7: “Since the purchase of the COVAX vaccine must be done through the official channel of the World Health Organization, ‌so far any way to pay and transfer the required currency, ‌because “The inhumane sanctions imposed by the US government and the need to obtain OFAC licenses have been hampered.”

Earlier, Nasser Riahi, president of the Union of Medicine Importers, denied the problem of transferring money for the import of the coronavirus vaccine under the embargo, saying that 30% of Iran’s imported medicines are from the United States with sanctions in place.

Riahi also noted that international sanctions do not include the coronavirus vaccine, and the two vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna would certainly reach Iran.

Meanwhile, Shahriari, the head of parliamentary health commission, stated that Iran cannot afford to buy the coronavirus vaccine and they will not give it to us. The government did not pay a dollar to buy the vaccine, and the fate of importing the vaccine may be the same as the flu vaccine. He added: Iran was supposed to be a member of COVAX, if Iran could pay. They are supposed to give 16.800 million doses of coronavirus vaccine to Iran, while the initial advance payment is $52 million, which has not even been paid one dollar so far.

The BBC quoted the Washington Post in a report on the subject that a COVAX spokesman told the newspaper last Friday (December 4th): “There are no legal obstacles for Iran getting the vaccine.”

The Washington Post wrote: “A COVAX spokesman said Iran had obtained the necessary authorization from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Oversight (OFAC) to make an exemption to pay for vaccine purchases, and there was no legal ban on purchase of vaccine through COVAX by Iran.”

On the other hand, Saeed Namaki, the Minister of Health, to cover up the inaction of the government said: “We want to transfer money for the coronavirus vaccine, but they have closed all the means and exerted pressure on the people, but we are still in a better situation than many rich countries in the world.”

He claimed that the Islamic Republic would announce an “achievement” soon to counter coronavirus. He said, “We have reached a clear point in the control of viral diseases and an achievement of Islamic Republic in the near future will be announced that ranks Iran in the world in this field in the first place.”

But he did not elaborate on his claim!

Cyrus Yaqubi is a Research Analyst and Iranian Foreign Affairs Commentator investigating the social issues and economy of the middle east countries in general and Iran in particular.

According to Amnesty International, Ahmadreza Djalali’s sentence will be carried out a week from November 24.

The news of his imminent execution was initially reported by his wife Vida Mehran Nia, who lives in Sweden.

The transfer of Djalali to solitary confinement coincided with the release of new details about the case of the Iranian regime’s diplomat, Asssadollah Assadi. Assadi and three others are going to be tried for planning a terrorist attack on a gathering of the PMOI, an Iranian opposition group, held in Paris in 2018. The plan was foiled with police intervention. Assadi’s trial will start in two days.

There have been speculations about the regime’s attempt to exchange Assadollah Assadi with Ahmadreza Djalali.

Sweden’s Foreign Minister on Tuesday condemned Djalali’s imminent execution. 

“In light of reports that Iran may have planned to enforce a death penalty against the Swedish citizen Djalali, I have today spoken with Iran’s foreign minister (Mohammad Javad) Zarif”, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said on Twitter.

“Sweden condemns the death penalty and works to ensure that the verdict against Djalali is not enforced.”

In response, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh said, “Unfortunately, the Swedish authorities’ information on the situation of Mr. Ahmadreza Djalali, who is in prison due to security crimes, is incomplete and incorrect”.

“As Dr. Zarif … explained to Ms. Linde, Iran’s judiciary is independent and any meddling in the issuance or execution of judicial rulings is unacceptable”, he added.

Background

Djalali was formally invited to the University of Tehran on April 24, 2016, where he was detained by Intelligence Agents for alleged “espionage and cooperation with an enemy country” and sentenced to death.

Ahmadreza Djalali was sentenced to death for “corruption on earth” in October 2017 in an unfair trial before the 15^th Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. His sentence was based on “confessions” taken from Djallili under torture. He was threatened to death and told that his children in Sweden and his mother in Iran would be killed or harmed.

According to Amnesty, in an August 2017 letter written from Evin prison, Ahmadreza Djalali said he was held solely because of his refusal to use his academic ties in European institutions to spy for Iran.

The state-run TV IRIB aired Djalali’s “confessions” on December 17 along with a voiceover presenting him as a “spy”. His lawyers learned on December 9, 2018, that Djalali’s death sentence was upheld despite denying the lawyers an opportunity to file their defense submissions on his behalf.

Many Ahwazi activists believe that the regime’s policy of dam-building and river diversion is part of a longstanding effort to make the area uninhabitable for the indigenous people…

Problems related to water resources have become one of the most significant economic and social challenges facing the people of Ahwaz. Despite the Ahwaz region being richly blessed with bounteous water resources, including three major rivers as well as wetlands, water shortages continue to worsen, with even groundwater levels being greatly reduced due to the devastating policies of the Iranian authorities. This is exacerbated by climate change, which poses an additional burden on the availability and accessibility of water in Ahwaz, but climate change alone could not inflict the horrendous damage caused by the regime’s actions, particularly by its massive river-damming and diversion programmes, which have seen the regime divert much of the water supply from the three main rivers to other regions of Iran. The regime greatly accelerated these projects since 2006, particularly on the Karoon river, leading to unprecedented and rapidly growing water shortages, drought and desertification in the once verdant region.

The damming and diversion programme is one of the most critical issues directly impacting Ahwazi citizens, whose lives, like those of all peoples, are reliant on the availability of clean water.

Under international law, nations are forbidden from restricting the supply of water to citizens in any way that might adversely affect their health, wellbeing and economic stability; despite flying in the face of this internationally accepted norm and restricting Ahwazis’ water supply to a degree that forces many of the indigenous peoples to move to other areas simply for survival, the Iranian regime’s dam-building and river diversion programme has never been censured.

It is imperative, therefore, that this programme and the ongoing construction of dams must be subject to the rules of international law, so this article will focus on some of the violations already perpetrated by Iranian authorities through this devastating and environmentally ruinous programme in Ahwaz. 

Public anger is growing rapidly amongst Ahwazis over the Iranian regime authorities’ theft of their resources. In the latest revelations, it’s been revealed that the regime is planning to secretly divert more water from Ahwaz to ethnically Persian cities under the implausible pretext that sufficient water will be left for the indigenous Ahwazi people in the reservoirs behind the regime-built dams.

Since the 1950s, successive Iranian regimes have built dams and diverted rivers towards ethnically Persian regions of Iran, which have created a severe and worsening environmental crisis in Ahwaz, with this catastrophic situation worsening further under the current regime which has expanded the dam-building and river-diversion programme.  This policy has been implemented not merely to benefit ethnically Persian areas of Iran, but to change the demographic composition of Ahwaz by illegally depopulating its indigenous Ahwazi population so that the land and its resources can be transferred to ethnic Persian and other favoured groups, ensuring that Tehran has full ownership of the resources there.

The latest revelations came in a leaked news report published on Wednesday, 28 October regarding a meeting between the CEO of the Water and Energy Company and governing officials in the Yazd province in central Iran, during which the utilities head instructed the officials that there should be a media ban on any reports about diverting more water to Yazd to avoid the public outcry that happened following revelations of similar illegal diversions of the region’s water supply to Isfahan.

The chairman of the regime’s energy authority further claimed that the state-run company has not yet completed its study into the logistics of transferring water to Yazd, citing this as another reason why media should not be informed about the matter. 

The utilities head also quoted a local official from Yazd as stating that while the Ahwaz region has a problem with Isfahan, there are no similar problems with Yazd. Therefore, he said, unfavourable media coverage could be problematic in stopping the planned diversion of water to Yazd.

In the footage from the meeting, he said, “I urge everyone to ensure that all decisions taken at this meeting should not be published in media, and should remain secret until we can complete the water transfer safely and comfortably. We will also continue to follow the work of studies and financing of the project [regarding transferring water to Yazd]. We will also try to get a water transfer permit from the Environment Organisation as soon as possible.”

The regime’s plan to transfer more water from Ahwaz, which is already suffering from chronic shortages due to the regime’s large-scale diversion of its rivers to other areas is another flagrant violation of international law, effectively victimising an occupied minority population in order to benefit the occupier and its favoured ethnic groups.

The regime’s efforts to conceal these illegal and immoral actions should be publicised and broadcast globally in order to show the regime that it can no longer act with impunity and try to hide its crimes against the indigenous Ahwazi people behind media bans.

Amongst the ways in which the dam-building and river diversion programme has adversely affected the indigenous Ahwazi people and the regional ecosystem are: increasing poverty, unemployment and instability through forcing mass migration, essentially using water deprivation as a tool of demographic change;  spreading disease and illness through leaving the people of Ahwaz with only filthy, untreated water to drink and use domestically; massively polluting the remaining river waters and marshlands; devastating the ecosystem by destroying the habitat of native species of birds, fish and animals, leading to mass species migration or imminent extinction. This article will clearly explain the nature of each of these violations and how to address these policies that threaten the lives of an entire people in Ahwaz.

The construction of dams, particularly on the largest main rivers in Ahwaz – the Karoon and Dez – also has a major impact in neighbouring Iraq, particularly on the quality of drinking water and on agriculture, specifically in the adjacent provinces of Basra and Maysan, as well as having a severe impact on the ecosystem in the Arabian Gulf.

International treaties should theoretically prevent Iran from building dams capable of having such a damaging effect on the environment and local populations.  While international law states that nations which share borders and water supplies should hold consultations beforehand on such major initiatives and should reach agreement on issues such as the quality of dam construction, the materials used, and how this will affect water availability and quality, as well as reaching consensus on their shared ‘absolute sovereignty’ over the water resources,  these protections do not apply to the indigenous people in affected regions when the rivers in question, such as the Jarahi and Karkheh, also in Ahwaz, are controlled by the regime governing their own nation; Iran takes full advantage of this lack of any oversight to dam these rivers and divert their waters to a massive extent that further threatens the already precarious lives and wellbeing of the indigenous Ahwazi people and inflicts additional devastation on the regional flora and fauna and the ecosystem.  Meanwhile, the restrictions on water flowing into the Gulf and the pollution of the remaining waters causes massive environmental damage not only in Ahwaz but in all the Gulf nations. 

To make this article more accessible for readers and followers, the primary focus will be on some of the major problems caused by the construction of dams and diversion of rivers in Ahwaz.

It is hoped that focusing on these violations will increase the awareness of the magnitude of the violation of international law inflicted through the regime’s river-damming and diversion programme in Ahwaz and the level of risk these dams cause to the lives of Ahwazi citizens and to the ecosystem. Later, we’ll analyse how these waters could be used in a positive way that would respect citizens’ right to life and rehabilitate the Ahwazi environment.  

Introduction

International law plays an important role in resolving domestic and foreign disputes, with the growing tensions over water resources falling into both categories,  the conflict over water has become both an internal and regional issue between Iran and Iraq, with disputes over the Karoon in particular stoking regional tensions; meanwhile, although the dams themselves restricting that and other rivers in Ahwaz are solely within Iran’s borders, the regime’s actions have had a devastating impact on the ecosystem of the region. Given all these factors, the crisis over the regime’s river diversion and dam-building programme is considered one of the most serious violations of international law not only threatening Ahwazis’ future in their historic lands due to the danger posed to the indigenous people, flora and fauna and to the fishing and agriculture that are the historic occupations of the Ahwazi people, but to the wider region.  

As indicated above, provisions in international law and international agreements can play a crucial role in restricting dams and limiting their impact on human life and the environment. According to the principles of international law, it is prohibited for a nation housing the headwater or origin of a river to divert its waters at the expense of nations downstream, with no country, region, state or canton permitted to change the natural conditions of its territory at the expense of its neighbour. According to the provisions of international law, the country of origin can use the right of veto against any plan that might harm it. Such a government has the right to oppose any change in the situation of the river. [¹]

Access to water in Ahwaz has become one of the most important and central issues in the lives of Ahwazis; by building dams upstream, Iranian authorities have limited and severely reduced the availability of freshwater for the Ahwazi people, as well as severely polluting the remaining water, leaving citizens facing many serious problems linked to deprivation such as unemployment, poverty, displacement and diseases. [²]

An estimated 3 million people in the Ahwaz region (a number that would only include the population of Ahwaz city, Abadan and Muhammarah) lack access to safe drinking water in their homes. [³] According to international law, this is unquestionably illegal since these dams have deprived citizens of their natural rights to life, health and wellbeing. International law also links the miserable situation in Ahwaz to the dams that have caused disaster for citizens.

To address the ‘global water challenges’, the United Nations declared 2005-2015 the ‘International Decade for Action’, and “Water for Life”. These aspirations were restated in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, with the objective of ensuring that everyone has access to water and sanitation. More specifically, in 2010, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Resolution 64/292 confirming the human right to water and sanitation.

Freshwater resources in Ahwaz

Freshwater resources occupy a prominent position alongside other natural resources such as oil, gas and minerals in making Ahwaz an important region for the rulers in Tehran.  While the whole area of Ahwaz has access to freshwater resources and a number of rivers, as well as coastal marshlands, they’re particularly concentrated in the northern part of the region, known as Khuzestan in Farsi, with Ahwaz being characterised by its fertile lands, extensive cultivation and extensive water supplies.

Most of the area’s water resources are from conventional sources such as the Karoon, Jarahi and Karkheh rivers, which feed the marshlands in areas like Hor Al-Azim, Falahiyeh, Hor Susa (Bamdej Wetland) and Tamimiyah (Hendijan), with plentiful winter rainfall representing another conventional or natural water resources in the region. While unconventional, manmade water resources such as desalination plants are also present, these have been limited in Ahwaz given the presence of rivers there.

Ahwazi rivers have played a central role in the regional economy and ecosystem, with the 950-kilometre Karoon being the largest river in Iran and the only navigable one large enough to carry oceangoing vessels which has borders with international waters across the Shatt al-Arab waterway.

The Karoon runs from narrow high valleys at its head before forking into two primary branches downstream as it nears the delta; one of these, the ‘Salij’ (or ‘Bahmanshir’ in Farsi), empties directly into the Arabian Gulf, while the other, the extension of the Karoon, flows into the Shatt al-Arab waterway, connecting with the Arabian Gulf. The waters of the Karoon have enabled generations of Ahwazis to make their living as farmers and fishermen, with the region renowned for its agriculture and livestock, as well as for its rich variety of fish and wildlife. The second largest regional river, the Karkheh, enters the plains region between Hamidiyeh and Khafajiyeh after crossing Susa, from where it empties into the Hor Al-Azim. The river is currently cut off and rerouted at the site of the Karkheh Dam and hydro-power plant in Iran.

The third largest river, the Jarahi, divides into two branches, one of which, the Falahiyeh river, joins the Karoon before emptying into the Hor Falahiyeh marshlands, while the other, empties into the Arabian Gulf through Khor Musa.

The Dez River, the fourth largest river in Ahwaz, begins near Tester (Shushtar) before entering the Shatit tributary which flows into the Karoon. The Dez Dam is located on this river. The Zohreh or Hendijan river, with an approximate length of about 490 km, is the fifth largest river, also located in the north of Ahwaz.

After flowing through the city of Arjan (Behbahan), the Zohreh joins the Kheir Abad river; 36 km to the southwest of Tamimiyah  (Hendijan),  it flows into the Arabian Gulf. There are four other rivers in Bushehr in South Ahwaz, namely the Dalki, Hilla, Shapor and Mand. All these rivers empty into the Arabian Gulf. There are also smaller rivers in Jambaron which also empty into the Arabian Gulf such as the Minab, Kal, Shomil, Jalabi, Jagin, Mehran and Jask. However, all these rivers are now greatly diminished by Iranian dam projects which have led to massive suffering among the Ahwazi people, as well as causing an environmental catastrophe in the once verdant region.

Dams and Disputes

According to Iranian statistics, there are currently 72 dams in Ahwaz (including Khuzestan, Bushehr and Hormuzgan), with Iranian authorities seeking to build more dams to divert the waters to other regions. According to official reports, more than 40 dams and tunnels have been built on the Karoon, Karkheh and Jarahi rivers in Ahwaz to date, with 25 of these constructed on the Karoon, seven on the Karkheh, and eight on the Jarahi. A further 19 dams are planned for the Karoon, 12 for the Karkheh, and five on the Jarahi, while studies are underway into another 140 dams.

Iranian authorities, mostly working under the supervision of the regime’s infamous Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), also constructed several dams in the Abu-Shahr area in Ahwaz, effectively cutting the rivers off downstream and preventing the flow of water essential for drinking water and domestic use as well as for agriculture, fishing and for the regional ecosystem and marshlands of the Arabian Gulf.

Speaking about the regime’s plans for the dams’ project, Ali Mohammadi, CEO of Bushehr Regional Water Company, said: “There are currently 15 large and small dams in this province with a number of other dams under construction or under study, and these dams will play an important role in controlling water before it reaches the Gulf.”

Mohammadi noted that “The water stored at Rais Ali Dilavari Dam, as the largest dam at Bushehr, has increased by 47% compared to previous years.”

Iranian authorities have also reported plans for the construction of a number of dams in Hormuzgan province for electricity and other industries. Iran has revealed that seven large dams have been built in the province, all of which have a significant negative impact on agriculture and fishing, as well as on the ecosystem of marshlands at the mouth of the Arabian Gulf.

Crisis and impact

Given the critical importance of water to every aspect of life and the natural environment, the challenges facing Ahwaz in this context are among the most crucial issues to be analysed in determining the region’s future. Although a number of other challenges face the freshwater supply in Ahwaz, including increasing urban demand, changing land-use patterns and environmental requirements, along with the increasingly climate change occurs with severe and diverse impacts, but Iranian dams represent the most prominent challenge that threaten the Ahwazi presence and pose the greatest threat to Ahwazi water security. Therefore, water scarcity and the threat of Ahwazi water security due to the construction of dams by Iran are increasingly fuelling conflict inside Ahwaz and even with neighbouring countries.

The growing water shortage in Ahwaz and other environmental challenges caused by the construction of dams have recently reached a crisis point. Water scarcity and air pollution exacerbated by the desertification and pollution caused by the river-damming and diversion  programme not only caused social, political and security problems inside Ahwaz, but has also led to tensions between Iran and neighbouring states due to Iran’s policy causing water shortages and pollution in Hor Al-Azim and the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which has also affected the economy and wellbeing of Iraqi citizens in Basra and Maysan.

Among the other factors causing horrendous problems for Ahwazi citizens as a result of the regime’s damming and diversion of rivers in the region are downstream salinity in the remaining river waters, along with increasing desertification, pollution and flooding in the winter season when heavy rains mean the regime routinely opens the dams to relieve pressure, diverting the floodwaters away from its lucrative oil and gas facilities and refineries around the coastal deltas towards Ahwazi farmlands, towns and villages.

The regime’s habitual endemic corruption mean that the dams have been built and the rivers diverted with little planning and few safeguards or protection often using substandard materials and with inadequate infrastructure provision. The diverted waters are transported via a massive network of pipes to ethnically Persian areas of Iran, leaving Ahwazis struggling to survive on the vastly reduced available water supply. For one example, the salinity levels in the Karoon River rose sharply after the IRGC ordered the Gotwand Dam to be constructed on land close to salt beds, despite warnings of the disastrous potential impact, which proved correct.

The high heightened salinity levels in the groundwater and rivers resulting from this decision have done incalculable damage to agriculture in the region, with the land often left barren and even livestock unable to drink the water. Although there has been growing recognition by some figures in the Iranian regime of the seriousness of the problem, this is too little too late, with the regime unable to reverse the trend and even continuing to build dams inflicting similar devastation on the population and environment.

These dams and the diversion of the rivers’ waters are now the largest obstacle to economic development for many Ahwazi citizens who need the Karoon’s water for agricultural irrigation and for maintaining livestock, as well as for domestic use.

As another example of the devastation unleased by the dams, environmental officials announced in 2015 that the construction of the Gotwand Dam had contributed to the deaths of 400,000 palm trees in the county of Abadan in Ahwaz due to the resulting huge increase in the salinity of the Karoon river, which severely impacted agriculture and the local economy in northern Ahwaz which had produced the vast majority of exported Iranian dates.

As explained, the water shortage crisis, desertification, pollution and other severe problems caused by the regime’s damming and river diversion in the region not only threatens the wellbeing and livelihoods of the indigenous Ahwazi population but also has a devastating effect on the natural environment and ecosystem.

It is no exaggeration to say that this project has left Ahwazi citizens facing the most serious threat to their existence to date, one which could end their presence in their homeland; this is clearly a crime against humanity and a violation of international law.

Increasing diseases

As explained above, the pollution caused by the river damming and diversion programme, especially in combination with the regime’s concentration of heavy industry and oil and gas facilities and refineries in the region and its indifference to the indigenous Ahwazi population, has led to widespread contamination of drinking water and water for domestic use, leading to an increase in associated diseases including skin diseases, cancer and respiratory diseases.  

Much of the drinking water now delivered to homes in Ahwazi cities is untreated, foul-smelling and brown in colour, containing bacteria and viruses that have resulted in widespread disease. While the deterioration of water resources in Ahwaz has been a continuous problem for decades, it has become a particularly grave crisis since 2006, when dozens of dams were built to transport water to Persian cities in Iran. In 2019, at least 40,000 people were hospitalised in Ahwazi cities (12,000 in Ahwaz city alone) due to symptoms identified as being directly related to water quality.

In the last two decades, following the deterioration of environmental conditions in Ahwaz, doctors have warned of a steep increase in cardiovascular disease and cancer. Dr Shahram Ebrahimi, a consultant oncologist at the Ahwaz Health Centre, revealed that out of more than 100 known types of cancer identified, 52 varieties are commonly seen in Ahwaz, with the number of deaths from cancer alone being greater than those resulting from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The BBC revealed the reason for the lack of statistics on the high level of fatalities in Ahwaz in an unusually forthright report in which it stated that “except for some other comments, no more information can be found about the significant growth of cancer in Ahwaz. The reason for this is the ban on the publication of any statistics about cardiovascular disease, cancer and other diseases related to the current environmental crisis in Ahwaz.” Mohammad Alawi, the head of the Khuzestan Health Centre, also reported an increase in bowel diseases in Ahwaz due to contaminated drinking water in the region.

Migration

As well as denying thousands of Ahwazi people of the clean water essential for daily life, the construction of dams in Ahwaz has also displaced thousands of indigenous Ahwazi people who previously lived in the dam basin areas. For the Iranian regime, this is only the beginning, with a recent report on the Iranian dam project showing plans to build 40 additional dams on the Ahwazi rivers and water basins, 33 of which will be completed by 2030. If work continues according to the regime schedule, it will cause the mass migration of many Ahwazis who live in areas where dams are planned or who depend on agriculture, fishing or livestock farming for their livelihood.

Another side-effect of the regime’s programmes of damming and river diversion is rapidly worsening sandstorms; although these have always affected the region to a degree due to its location and low humidity levels, the increased desertification now affecting much of Ahwaz, including the once-vast former wetlands areas, coupled with climate change and pollution mean that means that they are now far heavier and last for longer, with a smog of polluted wind-blown sand regularly blanketing Ahwaz city and the region. 

The Deputy Head of the Iranian Environment Organisation, Ali Mohammad Shaeri, noted recently that “500,000 hectares of marshes have dried up and this is the main reason for the sandstorms in the region, as it has caused the displacement of many citizens living in the marshes.”

Poverty, Unemployment and Displacement

The river-damming and water diversion projects also play a role in the significant decline in wheat production, a long-time source of staple food for the indigenous people and livestock. Ahwaz is the second largest wheat-producing region in Iran, with around 62% of wheat production in the region being dependent on irrigation utilising water from its rivers. According to reports, wheat production in 2012 was half of that in previous years due to water shortages, which increased the prices of meat and bread across Iran. These problems have worsened since.

Whilst Ahwaz previously had around 2.3 million hectares of arable land in Ahwaz due to the five large rivers in the region, the dams and river diversion means most of these now heavily saline lands need extensive treatment and restoration in order to return to being productive farmland. Meanwhile, regional rainfall levels have decreased to an average of 120 mm, meaning the land cannot be cultivated without irrigation and drainage. Ecologists believe, however, that drainage will lead to environmental degradation, a sharp drop in groundwater aquifers, and increased pollution due to leakage, threatening an increase in water-related diseases affecting millions of hectares of land in Ahwaz.

Ahmad Landi, a faculty member at Ahwaz University (known in Farsi as Chamran University), revealed recently that “There are about 2.3 million hectares of land in northern Ahwaz (Khuzestan) suitable for cultivation, but only 18% of the land is in a good enough condition for cultivation.” Landi also revealed that 64% of agricultural lands in Ahwaz is now partly or wholly unsuitable for agriculture.

Many Ahwazi activists believe that the regime’s policy of dam-building and river diversion is part of a longstanding effort to make the area uninhabitable for the indigenous people, with Tehran attempting to change the demographic composition of Ahwaz as a means of securing its control over the region’s resources and denying the Ahwazi people any right over their lands or resources.  

 In a report published by DUSC in 2020 notes that agriculture has historically been an integral part of the life of Ahwazi citizens, with more than 40% of people engaged in agricultural employment of some form. While the amount of land in the region dedicated to agricultural purposes currently amounts to approximately 900,000 hectares, experts estimate that 2.5 million hectares there would be suitable for farming;  this is impossible at present, however, due to the regime’s marginalisation of the region and implementation of devastating projects that have severely damaged the land and either wasted or exported massive amounts of the water supply, along with introducing vast quantities of fertilisers and toxins in an irregular manner, particularly in the regime’s economically loss-making sugarcane plantations and refineries. As a result of all these factors, 40% of Ahwazi farmers and others engaged in agricultural work face poverty, destitution and homelessness, with many Ahwazis forced to move to other places in Iran or migrate abroad to survive.

The regime’s aforementioned sugarcane plantation project alone has caused the displacement of between 200,000 and 250,000 Ahwazis, according to a United Nations special rapporteur after a visit to the region.

Damaging Ecosystem

Along with the river-damming and diversion programmes, the regime’s obsessive focus on oil and gas production and refining and its sugarcane-growing project in Ahwaz, which Tehran is keen to turn into a heavy industry centre (without any benefit for its people, as always)  have helped to devastate the once-renowned marshes of Hor Howeyzeh and Falahiyeh, which not only sustained generations of Ahwazi fishermen, but wrecked the delicate ecosystem of marshes and the unique flora and fauna there. The increased salinity of the Karoon, which has risen by a quarter due to the reduced water flow, has left much of the remaining marshlands parched and lifeless, killing off marine life and forcing many of the native birds to migrate.

The level of the Karoon river, where oceangoing vessels once sailed alongside fishermen’s boats, ferries and yachts, has fallen by 80 per cent since 2000, showing the terrible effects of the regime’s dam-building initiatives.

 In some areas, the river is only 20 to 30 centimetres deep, while the stench of sewage in some parts of Ahwaz city which is bisected by the river, which is now too weak to carry the effluent away, makes the residents’ already tough living conditions even more difficult.  The continuing construction of more dams on Ahwazi rivers’ upstream leads many to expected that in the future the river will simply be a sewage channel.

The water crisis and the dam construction have caused other problems in Ahwaz. Ahwazi Organisation for Human Rights published that more than 700 villages in North Ahwaz have been suffering from lack of drinking water for more than 20 years, despite the government promises to resolve this crisis. For example, dozens of citizens of the village of Dab Hardan protested in front of the governorate’s headquarters in the city of the capital city, Ahwaz, calling on the Iranian authorities to resolve this crisis.

A report by DUSC revealed that the water crisis in Ahwaz has also spread across several rural areas, noting that “the water crisis in the city of Chobeideh continues to worsen, with its residents having to travel 35 km to Abadan city – home to one of the largest oil refineries in the Middle East – simply to purchase water for drinking and washing. While Abadan has been the source of much of Iran’s exports, its native Ahwazi population have not received any economic benefits from its presence and still lack essential services like running water.”

Radio Farda also reported that the water crisis led to a huge protest in the village of Gheyzaniyeh, noting: “Security forces stepped in and fired tear gas and plastic bullets into a crowd of residents in Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province [Ahwaz] who were protesting at the lack of drinking water.”

The report continued “The residents of Gheyzaniyeh’s district in the city of Ahwaz initially assembled in front of the district governor’s office on Saturday, 23 May, and then blocked the old Ahwaz-Ma’shor road, protesting the cut-off of drinking water in the area.”

Human Rights, Citizens’ Rights

The right to clean water for drinking, washing and ensuring economic wellbeing is a human right protected by international law. In 2010, the UN Human Rights Council adopted resolution 15/9, which “affirmed that the right to water and sanitation is derived from the existing right to an adequate standard of living” in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Another article of legislation concerning freshwater resources, the 1997 Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (UN Watercourses Convention/UNWC), calls on countries to focus on development and avoid pollution, although this convention focuses on the relationship between state parties, omitting any focus on citizens’ human right to water, being more concerned with cooperation between states over transboundary water resources.

More importantly in this context, Article 13, paragraph 1 (a), of the Charter of the United Nations provides that the General Assembly shall “initiate studies and recommendations to encourage the progressive development of international law and its codification. The codification and progressive development of rules of international law relating to the non-navigational uses of international watercourses would help to promote and implement the purposes and principles set forth in Articles 1 and 2 of the Charter of the United Nations, taking into account the problems affecting many international watercourses resulting from, among other things, increasing demands and pollution. Expressing the conviction that the framework agreement will ensure the utilisation, development, conservation, management and protection of international watercourses and promote the sustainable use of present and future generations.” Invocation of this legislation could help put pressure Iran to focus on development and work to avert or clean up pollution in areas close to the Karoon and other rivers in Ahwaz.

The role of International Law

The essential nature of water for survival, not just for humans but for all other species, and in all aspects of life, including food production, urban development and environmental wellbeing, means that international law plays a crucial role in ensuring access and limiting the impact of devastating initiatives such as the Iranian regime’s dam-building and river diversion programme through urging states to focus on developing and conscientiously utilising water resources and penalising those states and leaders who harm human populations and the environment through reckless or malicious withholding of these resources.

In addition, many regulations in international law that focus on relations between different countries regarding transboundary rivers, lakes or marshlands, such as the Hor al-Azim shared between Iran and Iraq, could be invoked to help address the crisis suffered by the Ahwazi people due to the Iranian regime’s theft and misuse of this crucial natural resource.

All international treaties, in accordance with the provisions of the principles of international law, clearly prohibit diversion of river water by an upstream country to the detriment of a downstream country, with no state, territory or canton allowed to alter the natural conditions of its territory to the detriment of its neighbour. According to the provisions of international law, any downstream state affected in this way has the right to veto any plan which may cause harm to it, with the government of the affected state having the right to oppose any change in the situation on its waterways, a regulation which would surely be applicable to Iraq.

To resolve the challenges facing states utilising shared water resources, several doctrines and international legal instruments have been adopted by states and international bodies. Four guiding theoretical principles – including territorial sovereignty, territorial integrity, equitable utilisation, and common management – have been used in allocating the resources of watercourses. Among these principles, equitable utilisation represents customary international law. This principle states simply that “the substantial interests of all riparian states should be reconciled in the most effective way,” adding that “the equitable and reasonable utilisation of shared watercourses is one of the fundamental principles of international water law.”

Many international regulations and treaties related to this issue have reflected the international community’s wish to find mutually agreeable solutions to problems related to water resources, in particular the exploitation of water resources and their environmental protection, with these efforts leading to the ratification of a number of conventions, including the Helsinki Rules of 1966, the Helsinki Convention on the Protection and Operation of Lakes and International Waterways in 1992, and the New York Convention on the Right to Use Waterways for Non-Shipping Uses in 1997, all of which led to the creation of solutions to problems regarding the use of waterways.

The Institute of International Law serves as a guide on international law in regulating the ban on the diversion of river water. The institute’s research findings were adopted at the Helsinki Conference in August 1966 under the title ‘Regulations on the Operation of International Rivers’, also known as the Helsinki Regulations. According to these regulations, if a government diverts international rivers at the expense of another, it will be responsible for all of its actions. In the United Nations in 1972, the United Nations General Assembly also ratified the sovereignty of states to exploit their share of water resources, provided that their actions do not prejudice the areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Moreover, the 1933 Montevideo Declaration affirms that states have the right to withdraw river water only on condition that this action does not to harm adjacent states. Indeed, this declaration emphasises the principle of restricting the free use of water, making it conditional on agreement between states.

The Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) aims to protect and ensure the quantity, quality and sustainable use of these transboundary water resources by facilitating and promoting cooperation. Hence, parties are required to take measures to prevent, one party monopolisng control and reducing any transboundary impact on the environment, human health, safety and socioeconomic conditions. These measures include undertaking environmental impact assessments and other means of assessment, preventing and reducing pollution at its source, licensing and monitoring wastewater discharges and developing and applying best environmental practices to reduce inputs of fertilisers and hazardous substances from agriculture and other diffuse sources. Parties to this convention are obligated to use water resources sustainably, taking into account the ecosystem approach. They are also required to set water-quality objectives and criteria, draw up contingency plans and minimise the risk of accidental water pollution.

Article 1 of the San Salvador Protocol, adopted in 1988, also states: “Everyone shall have the right to live in a healthy environment and to have access to basic public services. The States Parties shall promote the protection, preservation, and improvement of the environment.” Principles 1 to 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration contain similar rules. Principle 10 states: “Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level.”

Iranian Law

According to Iran’s domestic law, any actions that result in destruction or pollution of the environment or which upset the environmental balance are criminal and punishable, with Articles 57, 679, 680, 686, 688, and 689 of the Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran laying out the penalties against violators. Article 50 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran also provides for the protection of the environment, stating “Economic activities associated with environmental pollution or irreparable damage are prohibited.”

Conclusion

In conclusion, access to clean water is one of the most critical issues facing the people of Ahwaz, with the current situation not only leading to horrendous consequences for the indigenous Ahwazi people but for the region’s natural environment. While the demand for water continues to increase, its availability is dwindling due to the mass construction of dams and the diversion of most of its water resources to other regions. The remaining water resources are also under pressure because of excessive use and pollution, with severe climate events such as sandstorms, floods and droughts becoming more frequent and intense across the region as a result. 

These devastating and callous actions inflicted by Iran’s regime have caused numerous problems and created massive resentment not only in Ahwaz but across the border in Iraq whose peoples and natural environment are also suffering as a result. Although international law clearly states that legislation regarding inter-state waterways also applies domestically to use of the country’s internal rivers, which means that the Iranian regime does not have the right to dam and divert the rivers of Ahwaz, leaving its people without clean or potable water and devastating its environment,  Iran’s leaders have simply disregarded international law, and indeed Iran’s own laws, repeatedly violating fundamental legal precepts and treating the law and the people with contempt. 

Ahwazis view the regime’s dam-building and river-diversion programme as part of a deliberate long-term policy of ethnic cleansing aimed at changing the demographic balance in the region, due to its status as home to most of Iran’s natural resources such as water, oil and gas, through making the region uninhabitable for its indigenous people, destroying the economy and ecosystem and leaving Ahwazis with no choice but to emigrate. In this process, the regime is also destroying the unique flora and fauna of Ahwaz, devastating its wildlife, and wrecking the immense biodiversity of the region, with environmental experts warning of ecological catastrophe if these problems are not addressed.

An additional new crisis is the massive damage done to the marine life in the Arabian Gulf by Chinese trawlers which the Beijing-allied Iranian regime has given carte blanche to essentially strip the once-teeming waters of their fish stocks, leaving many Ahwazi fishermen destitute and forcing others, along with their Iranian peers, to travel to Somali waters where they must pay massive bribes to pirates in order to be able to fish.

The availability of freshwater throughout Ahwaz due to the clearly illegal actions of Iran’s regime is a critical issue and one of the most crucial challenges facing Ahwazis, with its importance set to increase in the future when it will undoubtedly result in mass migration.

The regime’s ongoing construction of dams in Ahwaz and diversion of the region’s  rivers must be subject to the rules of international law since these dams and the diversion of the indigenous people’s water supply currently play a major role in “harming people such as the spread of diseases; increasing poverty, unemployment and displacement as a result of building dams; and affecting the ecosystem, such as affecting the water level and damaging rivers and marshes,” in clear violation of international law and fundamental human rights.

As mentioned before, it should also be noted that international treaties also apply to domestic water issues. On this basis, some articles of international law in relation to international waters also apply domestically to the Ahwazi situation. For example, in terms of the amount of water available compared to the annual water consumption, Ahwaz now suffers from severe water shortages, despite the region being home to most of Iran’s rivers.

Chronic water pollution resulting from the discharge of polluted water from oil and gas refineries, factories and municipal wastewater contaminated with detergents, chemicals and toxins, also leaves much of the remaining water supply unusable, further undermining the security of the indigenous people, adding to their suffering and severely damaging the region’s ecosystem.

From the viewpoint of international law, the Iranian regime is responsible for the loss of lives and economic wellbeing in Ahwaz. For example, the first article of international law addressing the human right to a healthy environment was the Stockholm Declaration, adopted in 1972 at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, states in its first paragraph that “human beings have the basic right to freedom, equality and adequate living conditions in the environment, which enables them to live an honourable life.” The Declaration also states in its second principle: “The natural resources of the earth, including water, air, plants and natural ecosystems, must be protected and safeguarded through careful planning and proper management for the benefit of present and future generations.”

Ignoring these and other principles, the Iranian regime has chosen to inflict devastating policies that have directly caused an increase in deaths, migration, pollution, diseases, poverty and homelessness among Ahwazis through its programme of dam-building and river diversion. Although the Ahwazi people, as well Ahwazi and Iranian ecologists, numerous international reports, and Ahwazi MPs urging the Iranian regime to stop building dams and diverting rivers and to act in accordance with the principles of international law, the regime has flatly ignored all these appeals, leading to a crisis for the region’s indigenous people and devastation for their natural environment.

Given the regime’s awareness of the effects of its policies, this policy is, in short, a violation of international law by a leadership indifferent to international law and human rights, as well as being a violation of international humanitarian law which has caused and continues to cause grave harm to the health and lives of countless citizens.  

Article first published on Duruntash Studies Center. For the verification of references, please visit the original link.

Kamil Alboshoka is an Ahwazi researcher and international law specialist. He tweets under @KAlboshoka.

Rahim Hamid is an Ahwazi author, freelance journalist and human rights advocate. He tweets under @Samireza42.

Ruth Riegler is a Scottish writer, editor and supporter of universal freedom, democracy and human rights who previously lived in the Middle East.

Aaron Eitan Meyer is an attorney admitted to practice in New York State and before the United State Supreme Court, and a researcher and analyst. He has written extensively on lawfare, international humanitarian, and human rights law. He tweets under @Aaronemeyer.

Iran’s ongoing crimes against humanity have been swept under carpet by the EU for far too long.

Over the last four decades, European governments have implemented various policies toward Iran, but one thing has been made clear in this period: Appeasement of the ruling clergy only helps advance their hard-line agenda.

In 1992, the European powers experimented with a precarious policy toward Iran. They wagered that negotiating with the fundamentalist rulers of Tehran may end up changing their egregious behavior, especially at home. The regime’s human rights record was so appalling that Europe tried to rationalize its dicey rapprochement by pretending to have a “critical dialogue”.

At the end of the fatal experiment, however, not only had the regime not modified its behavior, but it had ramped up its human rights violations and conducted bold terrorist attacks on European soil.

The critical dialogue policy was suspended in 1997 after the German judiciary indicted senior Iranian regime officials over terrorist killings in that country. Even the most basic realpolitik lesson learned should have been that appeasement emboldens the regime and makes the situation worse.

Following that logical line of thought, dialogue should have been replaced by holding the regime accountable for its past actions in order to prevent future provocations. Shockingly, however, the European capitals doubled down on a more conciliatory approach, engaging Tehran in even broader negotiations beginning in the early 2000s, ostensibly tackling Iran’s clandestine nuclear program.

A few short years after the conclusion of that attempt in 2015, the Belgian judiciary is on track to repeat what German courts found 23 years ago, but on a much larger scale. Next month, regime diplomat Assadollah Assadi will be put on trial in a breathtaking case that sees him accused of direct involvement in a terrorist plot in France.

Prosecutors say that, in June 2018, Assadi delivered 500 grams of the powerful explosive triacetone triperoxide to his accomplices with the aim of bombing an Iranian opposition rally in Paris. Had the plot not been discovered at the very last minute, the terrorist act could have left hundreds dead, including international dignitaries and many European parliamentarians.

Those parliamentarians and many of their colleagues are now furious that the EU is continuing with its failed policies on Iran, even as the regime’s terrorist plots become more daring and the human rights situation worsens by the day. More than 40 European Parliament members, as well as national MPs in Poland and Germany, last week addressed the issue in Brussels and Berlin, respectively.

They vociferously condemned the regime’s terrorism and ongoing crimes against humanity. Insisting on action rather than words, they also urged their governments to live up to Europe’s political and moral obligations by adopting a firm policy toward the regime, including shutting down its embassies.
The keynote speaker and one of the main targets of the regime’s terrorism over the past two years, including a plot in Albania and the one in France, was Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

She echoed the parliamentarians’ sentiments and insisted there should be no doubt that the regime is inherently incapable of moderating its behavior, and that it should be overthrown by the Iranian people. This further highlighted the legitimacy and international recognition of the opposition as a viable democratic alternative. The NCRI’s message has had a meaningful impact both inside and outside Iran, forcing regime officials to warn about the growth of its reach and the drawing of the younger generation to its democratic 10-point plan.

Iran’s ongoing crimes against humanity have been swept under carpet by the EU for far too long. They are simply ignoring the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in the summer of 1988, the executioners of which continue to hold senior positions in the Iranian government. And, when Tehran last year killed 1,500 protesters and arrested and tortured 12,000 others, Europe simply watched from afar, contenting itself with occasional statements of condemnation.

More importantly, after several failed and costly rounds of dangerous experimentation with policies of appeasement and negotiations, the Europeans continue to make the same mistakes. As the famous quote reminds us, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Individual European governments and the EU as a whole would do well to listen to the voices of the Iranian people.

To stop Tehran’s provocations, especially its terrorism, Europe must hold the regime accountable for its foreign adventurism and its reprehensible repression of dissent and peaceful protests at home.

What should a firm policy include as its core measures? The EU should adopt legislation to expel Iranian “diplomats” and intelligence agents like Assadi, who may be plotting further terrorist attacks. They should consider closing down Iranian embassies. And, most importantly, they should designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies as terrorist organizations.

When it comes to human rights, the EU should seek to send an independent international mission to investigate Iran’s ongoing crimes against humanity and visit the country’s prisons. It must tell Tehran that it should stop its executions before any further diplomatic engagement.

For once, Europe should adopt a sane policy on Iran: A policy that better detects Tehran’s threat while hearing the legitimate calls for democracy of the Iranian people. Otherwise, European insanity will continue to breed Iranian terrorism.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He tweets under @Dr_Rafizadeh.

Article first published on Arab News.