![]() ![]() These are some of the more ominous projections about climate for the entire Middle East region– that is, Iran is at the epicenter of the region’s climate crisis. Nejadsoleymani write, “Among the Middle East countries, Iran will experience an increase of 2.6° C in mean temperatures and a 35% decline in precipitation in the next decades.” The climate crisis is drying out some regions of the world and increasing their average temperature significantly. Omid Shokry at The Atlantic Council observes that Iran is facing its driest summer in 50 years. With water shortages knocking out hydroelectric generation, the big city of Ahvaz has seen major power outages, which mean, no air conditioning. Some 4.7 million people live in Khuzestan, out of Iran’s 83 million. These are some of the hottest temperatures anywhere on earth and just below the all-time record temperature ever recorded, in Death Valley, Ca. Sunday’s high in the province is 124° F., and Monday’s is forecast as 126° F. ![]() Rainfall is down 40% in 2021, and some streams have gone dry. ![]() Even the hard line authoritarian, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s “August Leader,” has admitted that the protests are understandable according to AP, since water shortages in a hot, arid province like Khuzestan are a serious matter. Outgoing President Hassan Rouhani has insisted that people have the right to protest as long as they remain law-abiding. This social unrest is a problem that will be inherited by incoming President Ebrahim Raisi, who has no background for dealing with it other than rounding dissenters up and hanging them. Some 8 protesters or innocent bystanders have been killed, says, AI, and at least one policeman. The Iranian government has sometimes replied to the unrest with live ammunition, drawing rebukes from rights organizations and from the United Nations. Rallies have erupted in the towns of Mahshahr, Izeh, Ahvaz, Kut-e Abdollah, Susangerd, Aligoudarz and Shoushtar, according to Amnesty International Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan region, the center of its petroleum industry, has been wracked with protests for a week, in part over water shortages. ![]()
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