Dear supporters,

Since only a few media in this country are reporting on the current series of protests in Iran, I would like to keep you updated on what is happening:

For several months there has been a terrible drought in Khuzestan province (Iran). The drinking water supply has collapsed. Therefore, thousands of Iranians have been protesting against the devastating water shortage (so-called "water protests") since mid-July. These protests are a thorn in the side of the Iranian regime. They therefore order the desperate demonstrators to be shot.

The situation is dramatic: With temperatures partially exceeding 50 degrees Celsius, farm animals in and around Khuzestan province are dying miserably, and people are drinking from puddles at the roadside. The drinking water problem has been deliberately brought about. One reason for this is the construction of numerous dams, which the Revolutionary Guard, as the most powerful and corrupt economic power, had built in order to make their own profits. They were built without any consideration of expert evaluations by Iranian environmental researchers, who had warned against it in time. The goal was, among other things, to prevent access to the rivers of the population, which depend on agriculture, and to let them dry up, so that the oil can be fetched more cheaply from the earth and sold.

These devastating conditions have triggered a new wave of protests with the slogan "I'm thirsty!" by which the desperate people want to draw attention to themselves. The mullahs have responded by having their henchmen, using live ammunition, shoot at the protesters, most of whom are young people between the ages of 17 and 30. Amnesty International reported on this and published some names of young people killed (pictured center right). Many protesters have been arrested.

The protests have now spilled over into other Iranian provinces as well as the capital, Tehran. Many young people are taking to the streets in solidarity with slogans such as "Down with Khamenei" and protesting against the Islamic regime.

To stop the demonstrators and protesters from networking, the regime briefly shut down the Internet and has since initiated the drafting of a new restrictive Internet law. An Internet censorship based on the North Korean model could be imagined by the mullahs.

In addition to the water issue and Internet censorship, the high number of Corona infections-a result of the ban on approved foreign vaccinations and disastrous health care-is also heating up the protest mood. In particular, the new, highly controversial President Raisi, who was responsible for mass executions of political prisoners in 1988, is causing resentment and rejection among the population, which Iranians have already expressed through their very low participation in elections* this year. The nationwide labor strikes and protests tie into this and give hope.

I will keep you posted.
Yours

Saideh

* Election turnout is lower than the official (embellished) figures from Iran claim.