Online activists who are connected to Ahwaz human rights groups have reported protests in southwest Iran in the Ahwaz region. Reports at Akhbar Alaan and other outlets have also said there are demonstrations. Videos posted online showed protests, primarily at night, and it was difficult to confirm what else was occurring.
The reports say that Ahwaz residents of the region, which is mostly made up of Arab minorities within Iran, had been angry over lack of clean water. This was attributed to Tehran’s building of new dams.There is also an ongoing anger over discrimination and a feeling that the region is marginalized. The region has had many protests over the years against the regime, which has targeted Ahwaz activists abroad. Activists in Europe and the UK, had vowed to hold a protest over the weekend in response.
Iranian state-affiliated media did not appear to report the protests, even to downplay them, or accuse them of some crimes. Al-Hurra reported last week that there was a recent explosion in the region as well. This included an “explosion in one of the oil pipelines crossing the western part of the city, according to the Iranian Oil Ministry's news agency.”The explosion, at the time, killed three workers who were carrying out maintenance work, the report said. It happened in Ahwaz, the capital of the Khuzestan region, a report said. “Such accidents in industrial facilities are common in Iran.”
Video of protests in Susangerd, also known as Khafajiyeh, was also posted online. At the Ahwazi Organization for Human Rights, many videos of protests were put online. Another activists also posted videos from the city of Hamidiyeh, which is a thirty minute drive from Susangerd and is outside of the main city of Ahwaz.It was impossible to confirm if the videos were actually from these places or the general lack of reporting and the fact that Iran suppresses information, means it is difficult to know what is going on.