Criticism from the Friday Imam of Ahvaz on 'Water Transfer from Khuzestan to Neighboring Provinces'

Mohsen Heydari, the Friday Imam of Ahvaz, has stated that the country's Supreme Water Council has allowed the transfer of water from Khuzestan province to six neighboring provinces 'to provide drinking water,' with an annual volume of 1.26 billion cubic meters being transferred. On Sunday, February 12, he told the 'Mizan' news agency that this volume of water is being transferred while the drinking water volume for these six provinces is only 340 million cubic meters per year. Imam Heydari also mentioned plans that, if implemented, would increase the outflow of water from Khuzestan by up to ten times. According to him, the construction of dams on several rivers in Khuzestan is among the projects that, if executed, would raise the annual water transfer from this province to 2.8 billion cubic meters. He referred to the provinces of Kerman, Isfahan, Qom, and several others as the main recipients of the transferred water from Khuzestan, provinces that do not share a border with Khuzestan. This member of the Assembly of Experts added, 'This volume of water is transferred under the pretext of drinking water but is actually used for agricultural and green space purposes.' The Friday Imam of Ahvaz also criticized the electricity supply situation for residents of Khuzestan and the management of the environment in this province, stating that the responsible authorities 'do not pay enough attention to Khuzestan, and our complaint is based on this.' In another part of his remarks, he stated, 'We still have sewage problems in Ahvaz, and most of the sewage from this city is dumped into the Karun River, which, along with the wastewater from sugarcane, increases the pollution of the Karun.' Residents of Khuzestan have been suffering from dust phenomena, water shortages, and power outages for years, and collectively these factors led to water and electricity outages in 11 cities of the province on Saturday, causing schools and offices to close. Reports indicate that due to the intensity of dust storms, heavy fog, and high humidity, four power plants in Khuzestan were taken offline, and some water treatment plants also ceased operations. Previously, on January 28, after a dust storm occurred in 10 cities of Khuzestan, electricity, water, and internet services were cut off in Ahvaz, leading to the closure of offices and schools in the city. The Khuzestan representatives in the parliament issued a statement on Sunday, calling on the government to hold an urgent meeting instead of just 'apologizing and approving nominal budgets.' Fereydoun Hassanvand, the head of the Energy Commission in the parliament, also announced on Sunday that 100 billion tomans would be allocated for the immediate provision of electricity generators in the cities of Khuzestan. Hassanvand also stated that 'in meetings held yesterday and today with the presence of relevant officials and parliament representatives, a power committee from the Energy Commission will be sent to Khuzestan.' The issue of dust storms in Khuzestan has become newsworthy, as the occurrence of dust phenomena in several western and eastern provinces of Iran has repeatedly led to the closure of schools and offices in those areas. The power and water outages and the closure of schools and offices in 11 cities of Khuzestan have received widespread media coverage, and the representatives of this province in parliament gathered in the Speaker's podium in protest against this situation.