Instead of helping the people and providing them with the relief that they need, the Iranian regime has largely ignored the people and even resorted to putting measures in place in case they began to hold protests.
An official of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that in the Khuzestan province there were dozens of arrests. Colonel Shahin Hasanwand said that they were arrested for “spreading flood rumours” – an accusation that would barely be believable in most countries. And by now we know that those arrested in Iran are often done on the most ridiculous made-up charges.
It has also been reported in the last couple of days that the Iranian regime has been sending Qods Force militants from Iraq to just across the border. A large number of militants belonging to the Hashd al-Sha’bi (PMF) have been sent to allegedly distribute aid to those affected by the flooding. However, in reality this could not be further from the truth because they were sent away with armoured vehicles and a large number of weapons. The people affected by the floods need humanitarian aid, not weapons.
It is clear that the militants have been sent to suppress protesters in Khuzestan.
In another ridiculous and barely believable move, the regime has used the state media outlets to spread word that the PMF is present in the flood-damaged areas to protect Iraq against the flooding. There are so many PMF members on the ground that the regime could not ignore the situation, but its excuse that they are there to help is once again laughable and ridiculous.
There are other militia groups present at other flood-hit areas. Their very presence suggests that the regime is extremely nervous about the people’s reaction to the flooding crisis and it suggests that the regime knows popular unrest is a distinct possibility. And it would be right to think as such because the people have endured enough without having to deal with this new crisis.
For as long as the Iranian regime is in power, the people will have to overcome hurdle after hurdle. Its years of mismanagement and its destructive policies have jeopardised so much for the people and they have decided to take the future into their own hands. They want the regime to collapse and they will not give up until it finally happens.
The flooding has been caused by the heaviest rainfall in a decade, but the consequences have been made so much worse by the regime’s decades of destruction to the natural landscape and its infrastructure mismanagement. Environmentalists warned about the regime’s actions, but of course the concerns were ignored. Nothing will change until the regime collapses.
