Protesters angry over water shortages marched through streets late Thursday in province in southwestern Iran and police fired weapons to disperse the crowds, online videos showed.
It wasn't immediately clear if anyone had been wounded or arrested in the protests across multiple cities in Khuzestan province, including its capital, Ahvaz. Iranian state media had not reported on the unrest as of early Friday morning.
Videos showed people setting fire to tires, blocking roadways in anger. Anti-riot police in helmets and camouflage fatigues scuffled with demonstrators. Police also fired shotguns in one video, though it wasn't clear if it was live ammunition or so-called “beanbag rounds” designed to be less lethal, according to The Associated Press.
Those in the videos chanted in Arabic, demanding others to join them.
Water worries in the past have sent angry demonstrators into the streets in Iran. The country has faced rolling blackouts for weeks now, in part over what authorities describe as a drought striking the nation.
Precipitation had decreased by almost 50% in the last year, leaving dams with dwindling water supplies to fuel the country
The protests in Khuzestan province come as Iran struggles through repeated waves of infections in the coronavirus pandemic and as thousands of workers in its oil industry have launched strikes for better wages and conditions.
Iran's economy also has struggled under US sanctions since then-President Donald Trump's 2018 decision to unilaterally withdraw America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers, crashing the value of Iran's rial currency.
