Residents of Isfahan district protest against the river blockade and water rationing in the district ended tonight (Thursday) with a hard-hitting violence by regime officials against protesters and a wave of arrests.
The members of the Basij force, a popular militia loyal to the Revolutionary Guards and believing in acts of bullying and protest repression, arrived at the protest encampment of the farmers and opponents of the regime who demonstrated together.
The Basij people used diggers to break through the heat of the dirt dug by the farmers around the encampment.
In response to the arrests and violence, dozens of farmers raided the water pipes near the city and broke them with hammer blows.
Citizens posted videos and photos of Basij beating protesters and driving wildly on motorcycles near the protest tent.
Authorities initially allowed protesters to assemble but after the protest began to show signs of opposition to the regime senior city officials announced they would work to stop it.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated on Friday in Iran's third largest city, Isfahan, demanding a fair distribution of the country's water resources.
In an unusual move, authorities allowed the rally to take place and no arrests or violence were recorded over the weekend, after thousands of farmers came to the city from across the county demanding canceling a water redistribution plan in a way that could hurt farmers in the region, suffering from a series of devastating droughts.
The protest began last week when farmers marched in the city alongside key figures in local government, but now thousands more have joined the protest and it has taken on a defiant character in the face of the regime.
Protesters chanted "condemnation of the state's waste abroad," an open criticism of Tehran's policy of intervening in neighboring countries, including Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
A video uploaded on social media showed a child speaking during today's rally and the microphone was taken from him after he read "Death to Khamenei."
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