Iranian police arrested several people Sunday for "security threats" during a protest over the drying of the large Urmia Lake, once considered the largest in the entire region, amid several months of sporadic demonstrations against the authorities' water policy.
© Provided by News 360File image of Lake Namak, Iran. -
ROUZBEH FOULADI / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO
The lake, in the mountains of northwestern Iran, began drying up in 1995 due to drought and constant water abstraction for agriculture and dams, according to the United Nations Environment Program.
More than six million people, between the cities of Tabriz and Urmia, depend on agriculture on the shores of the lake.
The arrests were announced by West Azerbaijan provincial police chief Rahim Jahanbakhsh, who has accused "many evil and hostile elements, who had no other aim than to destroy public property and disturb the security of the population," according to the state news agency IRNA.
On Saturday, and according to the semi-official Iranian news agency FARS, dozens of people rallied in the lake towns to criticize the Iranian authorities to the cry of "Parliament has killed the lake."
The demonstrations are reminiscent of those that took place in November last year in the city of Isfahan, in the center of the country, against water shortages between drought and the diversion of the Zayandeh river to other localities.
The authorities blamed the drought on the lack of water in the region (some 400 km south of Tehran), but activists quoted by the Bloomberg news agency denounce years of waste and negligence, such as the construction of steel mills whose operation has ended up draining the water from the river.
The lake, in the mountains of northwestern Iran, began drying up in 1995 due to drought and constant water abstraction for agriculture and dams, according to the United Nations Environment Program.
More than six million people, between the cities of Tabriz and Urmia, depend on agriculture on the shores of the lake.
The arrests were announced by West Azerbaijan provincial police chief Rahim Jahanbakhsh, who has accused "many evil and hostile elements, who had no other aim than to destroy public property and disturb the security of the population," according to the state news agency IRNA.
On Saturday, and according to the semi-official Iranian news agency FARS, dozens of people rallied in the lake towns to criticize the Iranian authorities to the cry of "Parliament has killed the lake."
The demonstrations are reminiscent of those that took place in November last year in the city of Isfahan, in the center of the country, against water shortages between drought and the diversion of the Zayandeh river to other localities.
The authorities blamed the drought on the lack of water in the region (some 400 km south of Tehran), but activists quoted by the Bloomberg news agency denounce years of waste and negligence, such as the construction of steel mills whose operation has ended up draining the water from the river.
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