Street protests broke out overnight over severe water shortages in Iran’s oil-rich southwest, according to Iranian news outlets and videos posted on social media on Friday, as the country faces its worst drought in 50 years.
Videos showed protesters setting fire to tires to block a road and security forces were seen trying to disperse the crowds as some shots were heard. Reuters could not independently verify the videos’ authenticity.
“State television should report what we are saying and show the image of the buffaloes that perished from lack of water,” an elderly protester said on a video carried by the regional Asrejonoob news website.
In May, Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian warned of water shortages in the summer, saying this year was “one of the driest in 50 years.”
The water shortages have led to power blackouts and there were protest marches in several cities last week. During some protests, people vented their anger with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, chanting “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei.”
In recent weeks, thousands of workers in Iran’s key energy sector have held protests, seeking better wages and working conditions in southern gas fields and some refineries in big cities.
Iran’s economy has tanked due to the impact of US sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic. Nowhere in the Middle East has been hit harder by the virus than Iran.
Protests by workers and pensioners have been almost unrelenting for months, with discontent growing over an economy that is suffering inflation of more than 50%, high unemployment, with some workers complaining that their wages are not being paid.
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
Amir Tsarfati in his most recent Mid-East Review discussed this water shortage, and how it has exacerbated the unrest with already fed-up citizens:
[In Lebanon] misery has only increased this last week as the water supply has been severely diminished due to power outages. This interruption has also occurred in Iran for the same reason. Power outages damage water pumps, which in turn leads to the collapse of the water infrastructure.
Many in Iran are fed up with the incompetence of their governmental leadership. Protests continue to break out all over the country. This is something that the religious regime will not countenance, often using violence to stop the demonstrators.
Tsarfati also explained via telegram that such water issues are exactly what happens “when a regime invests in rockets and nuclear bombs rather than in caring for [its] own citizens…..”
In Matthew 24, the disciples ask Jesus, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and the end of the world?”
Jesus in His response gave a detailed description of the condition of the world and what it will look like in the last days. Wars and rumours of wars, nation rising against nation, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, these being the beginning of sorrows.
In Luke 21:25, Jesus says, “There will be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth Distress of Nations with Perplexity, the seas and the wave roaring.”
With the current global state of turmoil amongst the nations, we can’t help but recognize the distress of nations Jesus describes in Luke 21 and Matthew 24, matching what we see today.
