Protests in Iran: Supreme Leader calls not to play the game of "the enemy"

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, here this Friday, July 23 in Tehran, criticized the government's handling of water problems.

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Eight days after the start of the protests in Khuzestan province against the water shortage, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, directly targeted by some demonstrators, intervened to justify the protests while asserting that it was not necessary not fall into the trap of enemies.

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It is the first time that the Iranian number one intervenes since the beginning

of the protests in Khuzestan

, which left several dead according to the Iranian media.

Ayatollah Khamenei criticized the government's handling of water problems, which caused a serious crisis in this oil-rich region which was one of the granaries of the country.

“ 

People have expressed their dissatisfaction. We can not blame them. The water problem is not a minor problem, especially in the particular climate of Khuzestan. But people must be careful, because the enemy wants to use the slightest problem against the country, against the revolution, against the Islamic Republic,

 ”warned the Iranian Supreme Leader. But " 

the enemy seeks to use everything against the (Iranian) Revolution, the country and the interests of the people, we must therefore be careful not to give it a pretext 

", he launched to the address of the inhabitants of the province, without specifying which “ 

enemy

 ” it was.

The demonstrators denounce for a week the shortage of drinking water and water for agriculture and livestock, recalls our correspondent in Tehran,

Siavosh Ghazi

.

According to media reports, 700 villages and 25 towns are affected.

Drought unprecedented in 50 years and dams built upstream for three decades that retain water have dried up rivers in the province, which has a large Arab minority.

In recent days, some officials and media have accused Arab separatist groups of wanting to exploit the discontent against power.

The authorities mobilized tankers and opened the valves of the dams to bring water and calm the population.

But according to experts, the problem cannot be fixed anytime soon.

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To read also: In Iran, "the environment shows that it has social consequences, even perhaps political"

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• Iran

• Ali Khamenei