Water and power outages closed schools and departments in throughout Ahwaz region. This coincided with the sandstorm that hit the region.
The Arab Ahwaz region is suffering from continuous water and power outages, which have resulted in the closure of schools and governmental departments in 11 cities in the region. Even though the region accounts for 35% of Iran’s water supply and provides most of the electricity for the country, Ahwaz has suffered over the past days from a shortage of water and electric power supply. This is while Iran has recently resumed electricity exports to Iraq’s southern province of Basra.
According to reports quoted by the Iranian media on the “crisis committee” in Ahwaz on Saturday, due to water and electricity outages, 11 cities in the region closed government departments, banks, universities and schools. According to these sources, the cities of Ahwaz, Abadan, Muhammarah, Hamidiyeh, Bowie, Bandar-e Mahshor (Mahshar ), Hendijan, Falahiyeh, Howeyzeh as well as the counties of Karoon and Bowie ; have all suffered from severe and continuous water and electricity cuts. All the while, local residents which already struggle under the burden of the high cost of living and widespread of unemployment, have to buy Jerry cans of clean water in order to survive.
It is noteworthy that many of the dams and power plants in Iran are located in the Ahwaz region. According to the local people, a solemn darkness lingers over the whole region. It is as if the region has gone back in time, to an era when electricity was not yet discovered and people had to use candles Kerosene lanterns. Local further point out that there are no specific dates as to when electricity returns, and in many cases, as soon as it is back, another malfunction occurs with no one to take responsibility because the majority of authorities are not local Ahwazis and do not feel any sense of responsibility towards Ahwazi Arab people. The power and water outages occur only in Arab-populated areas while at the same time, areas that are settled with Persian settlers with the encouragement and full support of the Iranian regime have not experienced any power or water interruptions.
The occurrence of these incidents in addition to the spread of respiratory diseases due to the severe sandstorm, have made life even more difficult for the Arab citizens of Ahwaz.
The Arab population also suffer from a severe lack of many services. This is the result of either negligence or a systematic policy followed by the authorities to force the Arab population to leave this wealthy region, which holds most of Iran’s oil riches. When it comes to getting government jobs, the Arabs suffer from discrimination and favoritism and other forms of discrimination in their region.
Ahwazmonitor
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