Protesters who blocked the street leading to the office called for halt of the activities of the lead and zinc factories in the city.
The protestors then gathered outside the office of the city’s Friday prayer leader. The Friday prayer leader tried to calm the angry protestors with demagoguery.
Ali Khatami who is also Ali Khamenei’s representative in this city said: “It is not yet proven that cancer is caused by the lead and zinc residues.”
Iran – Photos: Residents of Zanjan protest against pollution
This is while the IRGC affiliated Fars News Agency says: “existence of more then 70 lead and sink factories and production units near the city of Zanjan has caused unprecedented increase in cancer and other serious diseases in the city creating alert among people and city merchants.”
To continue their protest, the angry residents of Zanjan then moved towards the city center while chanting slogans “don’t be afraid, we are all together”, “honorable citizen, unity, unity”, and “we don’t want lead and zink, we want fresh air.”
Despite the public protest, Raoufi Nejad, the governor of Zanjan province, ignored the pain and suffering of people in the city and claimed that: “all activities of these industrial units are under supervision of environmental and eco-system organization and accordingly this organization is observing the environment every moment and it will take necessary measures if pollution exceeds the standard level.
The leaders of the mullahs’ regime and their agents in Zanjan earn astronomical income from the lead and zinc mining revenues but they do not provide the basic workplace health standards and health care for the workers and the city’s residents.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
11 August 2013