exacerbated health issues caused by air pollution and dust storms and causing many Ahvaz residents to suffer from various medical conditions. 18 19 The Islamic Republic of Iran has been diverting water from the Arab-majority Khuzestan province to the central plateau of the country for years, reportedly to ensure the development of the cities such as Isfahan, Qom, Yazd and Kerman.20 Despite objections from environmentalists and water management experts, the President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani launched the US$400 million Caspian Sea project in March 2016. As a result of the project, the diversion of the Karoon River in Khuzestan, to which most of the province’s lands and agricultural activities depend,21 lost half of its flow rate. The Zaiandehrood River in Isfahan reportedly dried up entirely. 26 The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has been reportedly particularly involved in these projects involving water diversion from regions predominantly inhabited by ethnic minorities and is reportedly a main contractor in the Caspian Sea project.22 23 24 In July 2019, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran “received information that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been involved in redirecting floodwater towards local farms in order to preserve oil reserves and exploitation equipment in Khuzestan Province.”25 Aggressive dam construction has been the source of the environmental pollution and shortages of water in the region of Khuzestan.26 In June 2018, 90 dams have been reportedly built by the IRGC to provide for the agricultural and steel industry in Isfahan.27 Reports have shown that the multiplication of dams has been drying up the soil of the Khuzestan province, which has become increasingly inhospitable to crops and exacerbated the frequency and intensity of sand and dust storms.28 The Gotvand dam, opened to supply the sugarcane plantations, not only reportedly dried up waterbeds but also severely raised the salinity of local water,29 contributing to potable water scarcity may well impact farming. Sugarcane agrobusiness has also been playing a role in the deterioration of the Khuzestan ecosystem. Khuzestan’s Water and Electricity Company has reportedly stated several times that pesticides and pollution generated by the sugar cane production have been a major source of 18 Report of the Secretary General on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, February 2019. https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G19/028/77/PDF/G1902877.pdf?OpenElement 19 US National Library of Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6108243/#R22 20 UNPO, https://unpo.org/article/20921 21 Südwind, All Human Rights for All in Iran, http://www.iranhrc.org/uploads/docs/docs_en/report_environment.pd 22 UNPO, https://unpo.org/article/3386 23 Brussels International Center, https://www.bic-rhr.com/research/iran-and-climate-refugees-alarming-situation#_ftn7 24 The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2015/apr/16/iran-khuzestan-environment-wetlands-dust-pollution 25 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, July 2019. https://undocs.org/pdf?symbol=en/A/74/188 26 Al Arabya, https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2018/12/14/ANALYSIS-The-disaster-of-drought-and-water-shortagecrisis-in-Iran 27 UNPO, https://unpo.org/article/20921 28 Brussels International Center, https://www.bic-rhr.com/research/iran-and-climate-refugees-alarming-situation#_ftn7 29 The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2015/apr/16/iran-khuzestan-environment-wetlands-dust-pollution 3