“Clean Air is our Right”

Residents of Abadan, Khuzestan took to the streets on Thursday afternoon, 12 February, calling for the government to honor their right to clear air.

“Rouhani, support us! Abadan is our city, clean air is our absolute right,” shouted some of the 200 protesters, who gathered outside the city’s Khomeini Hospital. Many also carried placards.

There was heavy police presence at the demonstration, and protesters were dispersed around 8pm. In a previous demonstration, people gathered outside the governor general’s office, accusing officials of negligence.

Dust storms swept into Abadan and the wider Khuzestan in mid-January, but the air quality has deteriorated significantly in the last week. Pollution caused by dust particles has crippled the city, and authorities ordered the closure of schools and government buildings on February 8 and 9.

The local Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that activists also took to social media, urging Ahwaz residents to join a rally planned outside the governor general’s office on February 14.

IRNA also reported that many protesters wanted the government to remember the important sacrifices the people  of Abadan and Khoramshahr had made, and the hardships they suffered, during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). These “cities of resistance,” they said, deserved the attention of the government during the current crisis. 

Read the original article in Persian