One shot dead in Iran water shortage protests

A demonstrator was shot dead during protests against water shortages in drought-hit Khuzestan in southwestern Iran, state media reported Saturday, with an official blaming the death on “opportunists and rioters.”

The demonstrator was killed in the Khuzestan province town of Shadegan, the official IRNA news agency said.

The province is Iran’s main oil-producing region and one of its wealthiest, but it has been hit by a persistent drought that has led to tensions since late March.

“Last night (Friday), a number of Shadegan’s people had gathered to protest water shortages due to the drought, during which opportunists and rioters shot dead one of the demonstrators,” the county’s acting governor, Omid Sabripour, told IRNA.

Sabripour said the perpetrators “sought to agitate the people by shooting in the air,” and a “young Shadegan resident” was shot in the process.

In separate comments to the ISNA news agency, Sabripour said the shooting was directed at both the demonstrators and security forces.

He added that the victim was a “30-year-old passerby” and that those responsible were identified.

Some were arrested on Friday night, with a manhunt launched for the others.

Iran has endured repeated droughts over the past decade, particularly in the south.

Earlier this month, President Hassan Rouhani said the drought was “unprecedented,” with average rainfall down 52 percent compared to the previous year.

The country has also experienced regular floods in recent years, made worse when torrential rain falls on sun-baked earth.

In other parts of the country, floods over the past three days have killed at least four people, with two others missing, Iranian Red Crescent Society spokesman Mohammad-Hassan Qosian told IRNA on Saturday.

Another person was killed by lightning.