Farmers demanding water for their crops, protesters with blood pouring down their faces and riot police shouting at them to disperse — in recent weeks the scorched riverbed at the heart of the historic city of Isfahan has been the site of Iran’s biggest ever environmental protest. Riot police patrolled Isfahan this weekend after clearing the dried up river

Zayandeh Roud of thousands of demonstrators who had made a camp there. Dozens of protesters, some chanting ‘death to the dictator’ and ‘our police, our disgrace’, have been arrested, local media reported.

Iran, an arid and semi-arid country, is struggling with decades-long drought and a rapid depletion of its water resources, a problem exacerbated by a growing population. Farmers near Isfahan are among the worst hit, arguing they have lost out as the government has prioritised providing water to cities and industry.

“Farmers know there is no water to go into the river now but this

[demonstration] is a wake-up call for authorities to think of short- and longterm solutions,” said Masoud Sarrami, a senior businessman in Isfahan.

This is the latest protest to rock the Iranian regime, hit hard by sanctions, and makes clear the scale of the environmental challenge faced by the Islamic republic. As the protests grew, President Ebrahim Raisi ordered a committee to be established to look into the revival of Zayandeh Roud. Vice-president Mohammad Mokhber said the water problems would be resolved “in any means and any possible ways”. Ali Akbar Mehrabian, energy minister, has apologised to Isfahan farmers last week and promised a solution.

The situation in Isfahan is extreme.