Riot police were deployed in force Saturday in the Iranian city of Isfahan, a day after violent protests over the drying up of a lifeblood river.
Security forces fired tear gas during the clashes with stone-throwers in the protest by around 500 people in the bed of the Zayadneh Rood river that crosses the central city, Fars and ISNA news agencies said.
“A limited number of arrests” were made by the security forces, according to the province’s police chief.
“The situation is calm in the Zayandeh Roud riverbed and streets are empty, but I heard riot police were deployed on the Khadjou bridge,” a resident who works in the area said Saturday.
The demonstration on Friday was the latest since protests kicked off on November 9 in Isfahan, a tourist magnet due to its majestic mosques and heritage sites, including a historic bridge that crosses the dried-up river.
But it was the first to turn violent.
The riverbed has been the gathering spot for farmers and other people from across Isfahan province protesting the lack of water since November 9.
Drought is a cause, but they also accuse the authorities of diverting water from the city to supply the neighboring province of Yazd, which is also desperately short on supplies.
“I used to walk along the riverbed with friends but today the riot police are deployed in large numbers near the Khajou bridge and they are asking people to avoid the area,” said a woman in her 50s who was contacted by phone.
– ‘Mercenary thugs’ –
During the clashes on Friday, some people set fire to objects in the city, Fars and ISNA reported.
“After the farmers left, the opportunists and counter-revolutionaries were left behind, which made it easy for the security apparatus, especially the police, to identify and arrest those who destroyed public and state property,” Isfahan police chief Mohammad-Reza Mirheidari said on television.
But members of the security forces were hit by fire from hunting rifles, he said without specifying how many. One of them was stabbed, although his condition was satisfactory.
A Fars journalist said two bulldozers were used to destroy a pipeline taking water from Isfahan province to Yazd.
“Among the injured demonstrators, two are in a serious condition,” Nourodin Soltanian, spokesman for Isfahan University of Medical Sciences said Saturday, quoted by Mehr news agency.
There have been almost daily protests in the region of Isfahan, which has been particularly hard-hit by drought.
On Saturday, the ultra-conservative daily Kayhan pointed the finger of blame for the violence at “mercenary thugs”, whereas the pro-reform Etemad said the protests in Isfahan showed a “lack of trust in the government”.
Last Sunday, more than 1,000 people marched towards the governor’s office in the western province of Chahar-Mahal Bakhtiari to demand a solution to water shortages, state media reported.
President Ebrahim Raisi met with representatives from the provinces of Isfahan, Yazd and Semnan earlier this month and vowed to resolve water issues.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said the topic is the country’s top problem, without making reference to the protests.