Environmental protests 'against God' says judiciary official

GVF — An official in Iran’s judiciary has said that environmental protests against the drying up of Iran’s Lake Urmia were a form of protest against God.

According to the head of the Justice Department in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province, Seyed Mohammad Ali Mousavi, said “the dams [near Lake Urmia] were built to secure the people’s needs and those who use the lake’s drying up as a pretext to object to the managing of water resources are neglecting the teachings of the Quran and efforts by the [Islamic] State to provide for the people’s needs.”

Many experts and environmentalists believe that government policies such as the construction of a dam on part of the lake have played an important role in significantly decreasing the annual amount of water Urmia Lake. Reports suggest that the decline in water levels are also increasing salinity in the lake which may harm plants and wildlife and cause permanent additional ecological damages, such as provoking salt storms and repelling many birds.

Lake Urmia is the largest lake in Iran and the world’s third largest saltwater lake.

The judiciary official went on to add that “in essence” the protests against the lake’s destruction were rooted in “political” opposition to the Islamic Republic and were being steered by the country’s enemies. “Those who take advantage of these protests are implementing the beliefs of those who think that one can [even] protest against God too. They are unaware of the Almighty Lord’s power.”

In late August, demonstrators took to the streets in Iran’s majority-Azeri populated cities, such as Tabriz, Orumiyeh and Ardebil, to protests the authorities inaction over the fate of the lake.

The authorities’ response has so far been to violently suppress protesters calling for action to rescue the lake. In its heavy-handed approach against the peaceful demonstrations, security forces have so far resorted to tear gas, rubber bullets, and batons in the hope of dispersing peaceful demonstrators. Hundreds were ere arrested for simply exercising their right to assemble. Human Rights Watch has since called for their immediate release.

In August, in a move that infuriated many in the country, Iranian lawmakers voted against allocating funds to channel water from the Aras River to help raise the lake’s water level.

As a consequence of the lake’s drying out, millions of inhabitants in the area could be required to resettle in order to survive. One Member of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) suggested that the people of the region could choose to resettle elsewhere.

On 5 September, the head of Iran’s Department of Environment, Mohammad Javad Mohammadi-Zadeh announced that the government would dedicate close to US$900 million to divert water from rivers to rehabilitate Lake Urmia. A widely held belief among Iranians is that the measure is nothing more than a face-saving tactic aimed at temporarily putting the demonstrations to rest.