Riot police were deployed on Saturday in Isfahan, central Iran, the day after a day of violence during a rally against the drying up of a river, witnesses and the site said. state television.
The security services preceded "
a limited number of arrests
" Friday, according to the police chief of the province.
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For more than two weeks, protests have been organized by residents of Isfahan who have complained about the terrible drought affecting the region for years, accusing the authorities of diverting water from the city to supply the neighboring province of Yazd, which also sorely lacking water.
The Zayandeh-Roud River, which runs through the country's third largest city, has been dry since 2000, except for a few brief periods.
It has become the main gathering place for demonstrators.
On Saturday, "
the situation is calm in the Zayandeh-Roud river bed and the streets are empty but I heard that riot police were deployed on the Khadjou bridge
" which spans the famous river, said a resident. who works in this neighborhood.
"
I used to walk in the river bed with friends, but today riot police are deployed in large numbers near the Khajou bridge and they ask residents to avoid this area,
" he said. declared for its part a fifty-something reached by telephone.
According to Nourodin Soltanian, spokesperson for the Isfahan University Hospital, quoted on Saturday by the Mehr news agency, "
among the injured demonstrators, two are in serious condition
".
He did not deplore any deaths.
Clashes pitted the police against protesters in Isfahan on Friday who also set fire to street furniture during a rally against the drying up of the river, according to Fars news and Isna agencies.
“
After the farmers left, the opportunists and counter-revolutionaries remained in place, which made it possible for the security apparatus, in particular the police, to easily identify and arrest the people who destroyed the public goods,
”Isfahan police chief Mohammad-Réza Mirheidari said on television on Friday evening.
