Power Outages with the Strikes of oil industry and Haft Tappeh Workers and Retirees!
The people of Khuzestan are crying out for water scarcity, discrimination, poverty, unemployment, and inflation. Water shortage was the last reason for them to lose their patience. The people of this province spent three consecutive nights in at least 17 cities, including Ahvaz, Abadan, Azadegan Plain, Khorramshahr, Mahshahr, Hamidiyeh, Bostan, Qaleh Kanaan, Kut Abdullah, Molasani and Shadegan with the slogan "I am thirsty" on the streets and protested against water shortage and the regime’s mismanagement. But the rightful protest of the people turned bloody and several people, including 26-year-old Mustafa Naimawi from Shadegan and Qasem Khediri a 17-year-old teenager in Kuta Abdullah, Ahvaz, were shot dead by security forces. The oppressors have imposed a severe security atmosphere on the cities of Khuzestan and have cut off the Internet in parts of the province. People take to the streets at night to mislead the oppressors of their identity. Video reports indicate the presence of children among the demonstrators and the injured.
The province has long been plagued by 50-degree Celsius heat and seasonal drought, the continuing Covid-19 epidemic and the rise of its fifth wave, frequent power outages, unemployment, poverty, return of sewage to urban drinking water, and an unfavorable economic situation. 660 villages do not have water piping and all the villages in the province are water supplied with 78 mobile tankers. Livestock and cattle which are the only source of livelihood for the villagers are on the verge of perishing. The cultivation of the people is facing destruction. The severity of water shortage in some cities of Khuzestan is such that some residents of cities and villages collect and drink water from their air conditioners.
What has been said is part of the story of the lives of people who live in the richest province of Iran but are deprived of even the basic facilities of life.
The people of Khuzestan, at a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius, are worried about providing their daily drinking water and quenching their thirst and that of their families, while the water-rich rivers of the Middle East, including Dez, Karkheh, Karun and Arvand, run through the Khuzestan plain. Karun was the most effluent, largest, longest, and only navigable river in Iran with a length of 950 km and a flow rate of 560 cubic meters of water per second under normal conditions. However, according to the Ministry of Energy, the water flow rate of this river has decreased by 260% this year compared to the previous year and has caused parts of this river to become dry. This is not only the fate of Karun, but also other big rivers of this province are facing severe water shortage problem and this issue has shifted the tension from the nature to the villages and from the villages to the cities, so that 20 cities and 730 villages of this province suffer from water shortage.
Immethodical dam construction on Karun, structures such as Gotvand Dam and neglect of salt mountain near the dam, water transfer projects from the tributaries of this province’s rivers, not dredging Karun, paddy cultivation and not paying attention to sustainable development and neglecting advice of experts to regulate traditional agriculture has made Khuzestan thirsty and dry. Before the revolution, Khuzestan was one of the provinces of the country with rising immigrant population. Now Khuzestan has become one of the most migrating provinces in the country. This phenomenon has created many problems.
The miserable situation has caused Khuzestan to become the center of labor and social protests in the last decade. Khuzestan was at the top of the provinces in January 2018 in terms of the geographical extent of the protests. Out of 27 cities in Khuzestan, people in 9 cities protested against the regime. Currently, the largest nationwide strike by contract workers, which its center is based in the province, is in its 18th day. The Haft Tappeh Workers have also gone on strike in protest of non-payment of wages and several other unions demands, and in support of workers in the oil industry. Service and administrative workers in the eight districts of Ahvaz Municipality went on strike on July 13 to protest against a circular that deprives most municipal workers with less than an associate degree of changing their employment status and gathered in front of the provincial and municipal buildings. Retirees and pensioners in the city of Ahvaz also gathered on July 11 and demanded an increase in their salaries.
Coincidence of these protests have created an explosive situation in Khuzestan. These protests have not yet come together. But if they continue, they will pave the way for the protests to unite and form a powerful force. The Left Party of Iran (People’s Fadaian) considers the water shortage and frequent power outages crisis in the country, especially in Khuzestan, to be the result of the regime's destructive management and recklessness and supports the protests of the people of Khuzestan against water shortage, poverty, and the misery of the province. Based on a lot of data, the most preparation that the regime has taken in response to the multifaceted critical situation in Khuzestan in recent years is to strengthen the repressive security force in this province, especially in its Arab regions. The regime's violent crackdown on protesters in Khuzestan during the events of January 2018 and November 2019, and the recent protests, have shown that the regime’s intelligence-security forces and the Revolutionary Guards use bullets against the protesters.
The Left Party of Iran (People’s Fadaian) believes that the way to counter this repression is to increase the power of popular resistance and their cohesion. A movement that, for example, during the recent united resistance of the people away from ethnic and linguistic differences, with the symbol of "chains" as a sign of unity, was demonstrated by the protesters. Emphasizing the need to unite trade unions and social protests, we call on various social groups and political organizations to unanimously express their support and solidarity with the protests of the people of Khuzestan. Uniting the protests of different social groups across the country and expanding solidarity with the protesters will change the balance of power in favor of the society and to the detriment of the regime, which can provide favorable conditions for political and social transformation.
Political-Executive Board of the Left Party of Iran (People’s Fadaian)
July 18, 2021
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