NGOs accuse Iran of illegal use of force against protesters

Partial view of a street in Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran.

AFP - ATTA KENARE

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In Iran, one person was killed and two others shot and wounded overnight from Thursday to Friday during protests in the southwest of the country.

State television which broadcast this information talks about riots.

The NGO Amnesty International claims to have had confirmation of the death of at least eight demonstrators and passers-by.

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Iran uses illegal and excessive force to quell protests, according to several human rights groups.

"

Iranian security forces have deployed illegal force, including firing live ammunition ... to crush mostly peaceful protests

," Amnesty International said.

Analysis of video footage

of the protests

and eyewitness accounts "

indicate that the security forces used deadly automatic weapons, hunting rifles whose ammunition is inherently blind, as well as tear gas

," he added

. NGO

.

Iranian officials claim that terrorists shot at protesters and law enforcement.

Protests against lack of water

It is the drought that has affected much of the Middle East this year, including Khuzestan, Iran's main oil-producing region, and the lack of water that has pushed residents into the streets for several weeks.

The Khuzestan region is today deprived of irrigation because of dams which divert water from large rivers to the central regions of the country.

The majority of the population belongs to the Arab minority and feels marginalized in a country in economic crisis for years.

Some of the slogans heard in recent days refer to the Arab Spring of 2011.

"

Down with the dictatorship

", we can hear from the people calling for the fall of the regime.

Two years ago the authorities violently cracked down on demonstrations caused by the rise in fuel prices.

A crackdown that had left 304 dead, according to Amnesty International.

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