Water Riot Breaks Out in Iran
Protests have erupted following a dispute over a water pipeline in Iran's Esfahan Province, reports an Al-Monitor correspondent there.
Farmers in eastern Esfahan province yesterday, Feb. 27 fought off police special forces sent to provide security for the repair of a water pipeline that was destroyed last week, in a violent water dispute between Esfahan and Yazd.
In scenes of the fight's aftermath, captured on phone cameras, angry farmers and local residents of Varzaneh, 80km east of Esfahan, threw stones at the burning busses that had brought the police.
Another video shared on an Iranian community website that night showed several buildings on fire in Khorasgan, eastern Esfahan. The cameraman said that five people had been killed. Police and paramilitary units on motorbikes had crushed an earlier protest, and electricity and mobile-phone service had been disconnected, according to the person who uploaded the video.
The dispute started last Friday, Feb. 22 when Esfahani farmers burned pumps and line-control systems that brought water from Esfahan’s Zayanderud River to the city of Yazd. Local farmers say factories in Yazd are depriving local farms of water.
