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UPDATE: 8:30 PM CET
ISNA News Agency Reports: Only 40% Reservoir Capacity Filled as Water Crisis Deepens
A recent report by the state-run ISNA News Agency sheds light on the critical state of Iran’s water management. According to the source, as of December 12, the nation’s reservoirs are filled to a mere 40% of their capacity, indicating a deepening water crisis.
The report reveals a concerning trend in the utilization of Iran’s reservoirs, with a 7% increase in total input compared to the previous year. Simultaneously, the output from these reservoirs has surged by a significant 22%, further exacerbating the already precarious water situation.
From the start of the water year (September), the total input into the country’s reservoirs reached 3.84 billion cubic meters, marking a 7% rise from the previous year’s 1.59 billion cubic meters during the same period. In contrast, the overall output from the reservoirs has experienced a substantial 22% increase compared to the previous year.
However, the report fails to mention the role of the regime’s mismanagement in intensifying the water crisis. Criticisms are directed at state policies, including insufficient infrastructure, a lack of investment in water-saving technologies, and controversial water allocation practices. Critics argue that the regime’s emphasis on large-scale projects, mainly the nuclear and steel production industry, without due consideration for sustainable water management, have contributed to the depletion of crucial water resources across the country.
Canada Not Ruling Out Terrorist Designation for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps: Joly
The federal government has not ruled out adding Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to its formal list of terrorist entities. When pressed repeatedly on why the IRGC has not been classified as a terrorist entity, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly wouldn’t say, but told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday that the federal government has to “have the right tools to address this issue.”
“I think that we have to work on the best tools to do it. I think that we have to, meanwhile, continue to assure the protection of our diplomats or military … in the region,” Joly said.
UPDATE: 9:30 AM CET
The Unsolvable Problems of the Iranian Regime’s 2024 Budget Bill
The inherent problems surrounding Iran’s upcoming 2024 budget bill were one of the crises that regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei wished to sweep under the rug in the mayhem caused by the war in Gaza. But the budget crisis is so deep that the regime cannot hide it and it has resurfaced to haunt the cabinet of Iranian regime president Ebrahim Raisi. On December 6, the state-run Hammihan newspaper wrote, “Yesterday, after the President’s statements about balancing many imbalances in the next year’s budget, which have caused distress to everyone, Abdolnasser Hemati, the former governor of the Central Bank, wrote on his personal page, ‘How can a budget, which is itself exposed to imbalances in terms of revenues, balance the multi-trillion-rials imbalances of the banking system, pension funds, government debt, and state-owned companies?!”
The Systematic Erosion of Persian Culture in Iran’s Schools
Children and teenagers in Iran are compelled to study subjects such as ‘revolution, arrogance (a reference to Western powers), resistance, martyrdom, and resistance.’ Simultaneously, there’s a deliberate effort by the regime to systematically remove ancient Iranian literature from textbooks.
The alteration of the names of Yalda Night and Chaharshanbehsuri in the regime’s approved calendar, along with the destruction of historical works and monuments dating back to ancient Iran, is just one facet of the regime’s intentional program to erase Iran’s history and national identity.
In executing its targeted initiative to eliminate signs of Iran’s national culture and history, the regime employs various tools, with a significant focus on the content of school textbooks.
Student Activist Samaneh Asghari Sentenced to One Year in Prison
Student activist Samaneh Asghari has been sentenced to one year in prison.
Branch 29 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court handed down the sentence for student activist Samaneh Asghari, her husband, Esmail Nazari reported on December 16, 2023.
Security forces arrested Ms. Asghari at her residence in Tehran on September 14, 2023, and took her away to Evin Prison. She was temporarily released on bail from Qarchak Prison on October 4, 2023.
Samaneh Asghari is a student of Industrial Engineering at Kharazmi University in Tehran and a women’s and children’s rights activist. She was arrested last October during the 2022 protest.
Paris—December 15, 2023: MEK Supporters Held an Exhibition, in Solidarity With the Iran Revolution
Paris, France—December 15, 2023: On the second day, freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) organized an exhibition to express solidarity with the Iranian Revolution. The event also served as a platform to condemn the recent wave of brutal executions in Iran.
Also, read Iran News in Brief – December 16, 2023