Dec. 3 – A report about Iran’s water shortage protests was submitted to the United Nations by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization and the Ahwaz Human Rights Organization, this week.
The report outlined concerns about the Iranian government’s water policies and the negative health impact the policies had on water supply, food security and air pollution in the region of Al Ahwaz, which is officially known as Khuzestan.
The submission follows a brutal police crackdown on water shortage protests in Isfahan, in which more than 300 people are believed to have been arrested. At least 40 people were blinded by pellet guns fired at close range by Iran’s security forces during the protests, according to a report by Iran Human Rights.
Prices for household appliances in Iran soared after Tehran imposed a ban on foreign products.
The ban included home appliances from South Korea, which appeared to be a response to South Korean companies withdrawing from Iranian oil and gas projects after the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions in 2018.
Countries around the world have stepped back from trade deals and investments in Iran as US sanctions have made a wide range of agreements with the Islamic Republic punishable through extensive financial penalties.
And the UK House of Lords discussed the case of unjustly detained British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and its connection to the payment of a $557 million debt owed to Iran by the British government.
During the debate lawmakers argued that the money owed was not a ransom but a debt which was connected to the mother of one’s release.
British lords attending the debate also raised the unjust detentions of Anoosheh Ashoori and Morad Tahbaz, and called on the government to pay the debt in accordance with international law.
Responding on behalf of the government, Lord Ahmad said Iran was responsible for the detentions, and that any further attempt to recall Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe back to prison would be a “watershed moment in UK-Iranian bilateral relations.”
