The residents of the rural Gheizaniyeh district of Ahvaz initially gathered in front of the district-governor's office on Saturday before blocking the Ahvaz-Gheizaniyeh road with burning tires, according to the Iran Human Rights Monitor.
Two residents were arrested in the protest after police stormed the crowd in riot gear in an attempt to reopen the road, firing tear gas and rubber bullets, according to Iranian daily Mardomsalari (Democracy). Photos shared by dissident groups in Iran showed protesters with wounds on their legs.
#Iranians protest water shortages in Ahvaz by blocking a road and are shot by regime security forces pic.twitter.com/xTNfyu5cpR
— Alireza Nader (@AlirezaNader) May 23, 2020
Two police officers were injured after protesters attacked them, said Ahvaz police chief Colonel Mohsen Dalvand to Mardomsalari.
Dalvand explained that most of the protesters left the road after police asked them to, but that those who acted illegally were dealt with legally.
The police chief stated that the inattention of Iranian authorities to the people of the district regarding the water shortage led to the protest, adding that the right to protest against the shortage is legal, but should be done through legal channels.
"If the authorities pay attention to the demands of the people, social problems will never turn into disciplinary issues, and an example of this is the supply of drinking water to the people of Ghizaniyeh district," said Dalvand to Mardomsalari, adding that he had discussed supplying water to the people in a discussion with the governor of Ahvaz.
The governor of the Khuzestan Province where Ahvaz is located later announced that 100 million euros would be allocated, with the consent of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to work on issues with sewage in Ahvaz, including the development of a wastewater treatment plant.
The oil-rich Gheizaniyeh district has suffered from water shortages for years, according to Mardomsalari. The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, an Iranian dissident group, noted that the Khuzestan Province is one of the areas hardest hit by the coronavirus and is also suffering from high humidity and dust storms, meaning the water shortages are putting residents' lives in danger.
On Monday morning, Iran's Fars News Agency reported that the water problem in Gheizaniyeh would be solved "within the next three weeks" in a story featured on the top of their homepage.
The water treatment plant in the area should increase operations within the next two to three weeks, after work is done to expand and repair old and worn equipment and infrastructure.
Ahvaz has been the site of anti-government protests in the past, including large protests last November after a local poet who was known for his criticisms of the Iranian government died and rumors spread that he was poisoned by security forces.
The protests in November spread throughout Iran, with hundreds killed and thousands arrested as Iranian security forces violently cracked down on protesters. Internet access was shut off in many areas.
In May 2018, hundreds of people were arrested in Ahvaz amid protests against water and power cuts, poverty and alienation.
Ahvaz is the regional capital of the ethnically diverse southwestern Khuzestan province, home to most of Iran's Arabs.
In related news, worker protests have broken out in multiple locations around the country in recent weeks, as municipalities and employers fail to pay employees, according to Radio Farda.
In Arvand Kendar, also located in the Khuzestan Province, over 50 municipal workers protested a five-month delay in the payment of their wages. The mayor of Arvand Kenar told Iran's IRNA news that the municipality has over 80 more employees than it actually needs and was up to 25 billion rials in debt to the Social Security Organization when he took office.
Municipal workers in Khorramshahr, also in Khuzestan, protested a four-month delay in the payment of their wages last week, according to Radio Farda.
Nurses and medical workers have also staged several protests against the government's failure to pay their wages and other "discrimination," especially after their work during the coronavirus outbreak.
Hundreds of workers have been jailed and some have been tortured in past years, according to Radio Farda.
Reuters contributed to this report.