Iranians are protesting against their nation’s Islamic government.
For the past several weeks, Iran has experienced worsening energy and water shortages. As the BBC reported, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the outages earlier this month: “I apologize to our dear people who have faced problems and suffering in the past few days and I urge them to cooperate [by cutting their electricity use]. People complain about power outages and they are right.”
BBC added:
Rouhani explained in televised remarks on Tuesday morning that the drought meant most of the country’s hydroelectric power plants were not operating, and that electricity consumption had surged as people used air conditioning to cope with the intense summer heat.
Videos on social media appeared to show crowds in Shar-e Rey near Tehran, Shiraz, Amol and elsewhere overnight. Some people can be heard shouting “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei” — a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Protests are reported in several #Iranian cities against politicians and weeks of power cuts… last night people were chanting “Death to Khamenei”, “Death to dictator”… pic.twitter.com/LHdWEr8UK1
— Rana Rahimpour (@ranarahimpour) July 5, 2021
Protests continued over the past weekend as water remained scarce. BBC reported again on Saturday:
The water crisis has devastated agriculture and livestock farming and led to electricity blackouts. Earlier this month, protests broke out in a number of cities across the country. The authorities blame reduced rainfall for the situation, saying many hydroelectric power plants are not operating and electricity consumption has surged as people use air conditioning to cope with the intense summer heat. But many locals say the problem is mismanagement and corruption.
Masih Alinejad — an Iranian-American journalist who was nearly kidnapped on American soil by the Iranian government — likewise called the protests “anti-regime demonstrations.”
“Khuzestan doesn’t have water and the regime is to blame for wrong water policies,” she said on Twitter.
Anti-regime demonstrations are still underway in Iran's #Khuzestan province. This video is from #Susangerd where security forces are seen shooting at innocent protesters asking for water.
Khuzestan doesn't have water and the regime is to blame for wrong water policies. pic.twitter.com/QNugWzPZB2
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) July 18, 2021
“These innocent people of #Kuzestan want to water,” she commented in another post. “The regime has deprived them of this vital source of life. Watch how the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at protesters in #Susangerd because they simply ask why they lack water.”
Watch this video. These innocent people of #Kuzestan want to water. The regime has deprived them of this vital source of life. Watch how the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at protesters in #Susangerd because they simply ask why they lack water. pic.twitter.com/3WQpepfaGK
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) July 18, 2021
At least one protester has reportedly been killed.
The World Bank states that Iran is facing economic hardships due to COVID-19, rampant inflation, and high government debt. The nation has also experienced severe economic contractions for the two years leading up to the outbreak of COVID-19.
As The Daily Wire reported, citizens of Cuba have taken to the streets for similar reasons — namely, shortages of basic necessities spurned by mismanagement from an authoritarian government.
President Biden declared solidarity with “the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime.” He lauded the Cuban people for “bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights,” including “the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future.”
Though Biden has not amended America’s trade embargo on Cuba, the Commander-in-Chief recently walked back sanctions on Iran meant to limit the illicit oil trade. The State Department said that the sanctions waiver was signed to “allow funds held in restricted Iranian accounts in Japan and Korea to be used to pay back Japanese and Korean companies that exported non-sanctioned items to Iran.” The waiver “does not allow for the transfer of any funds to Iran.”
At the time of this article’s publication, the Biden administration has not yet addressed the Iranian protests.