Protests in Iran over water shortages spread to the country’s capital on Monday, with demonstrators in Tehran shouting “death to the dictator,” AP reported.
Demonstrations also spread to the cities of Isfahan, Kermanshah, Karaj and Ahvaz, with protesters chanting “Not for Gaza! Not for Lebanon! I sacrifice my life for Iran”—a slogan used in protests since 2009 and that can be heard in footage posted on social media.
Tehran, July 26, 2021
Protesters chant "Not for Gaza! Not for Lebanon! I sacrifice my life for Iran!"
A chant continuosly heard in protests since 2009, this is the foundation of what protesters want to be the countey's regional policy in the post-IR Iran. pic.twitter.com/DYAByGjsmI— Saeed Ghasseminejad (@SGhasseminejad)
Since July 15, demonstrations have swept across dozens of towns and cities in the drought-stricken country’s oil-rich Khuzestan province.
At least eight people have been killed by Iranian security forces trying to quell the protests, according to reports from participants on the ground, some of whom have managed to evade what they claim is the regime’s Internet lockdown.
Security forces have killed at least eight protesters and bystanders, including a teenage boy, in different cities in protests. The regime shut down the Internet to kill more people.
The world silence will only produce more victims. pic.twitter.com/GaFMkuAhTg— Masih Alinejad ?️ (@AlinejadMasih)
This is the latest in a series of anti-regime protests that have taken place in Iran since 2009, when incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of what the public believed was a rigged election.
More recently, Iranians took to the streets in December 2019 and January 2020.