Video shows Iranian police opening fire during Khuzestan water protest

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iranian police opened fire late Sunday, July 18 night amid protests against water shortages in southwestern Iran, a video showed according to the Associated Press, the latest unrest after days of demonstrations that have seen at least one person killed.

The video from the Human Rights Activists News Agency by Human Rights Activists in Iran showed the shooting in Susangerd, which has been an epicenter of demonstrations in Iran’s restive Khuzestan province.

A police officer fires into the air with a pistol and at least one other shot can be heard in the footage. Riot police on motorcycles race around a corner, firing at the protesters.

The video corresponded to other Associated Press reporting of the demonstrations in Khuzestan, home to ethnic Arabs who complain of discrimination by Iran’s Shiite theocracy. The video also matched known features of Susangerd and the protest depicted took place where other demonstrations occurred in recent days.

On Sunday, the deputy governor of Khuzestan province in charge of security affairs acknowledged the unrest had killed at least one person. The state-run IRNA news agency quoted Valiollah Hayati as blaming “rioters” for killing a citizen in the city of Shadegan in Khuzestan. Iran’s government long has blamed protesters for deaths during demonstrators in unrest, despite its history of bloody crackdowns.