Iran's Khamenei says water crisis protesters cannot be blamed

Demonstrators in the town of Aligudarz in Lorestan province marched to voice support for protesters in neighbouring Khuzestan late on Thursday on the eighth night of protests. Videos showed protesters chanting slogans against Khamenei.

New Delhi: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that Iranians protesting over water shortages cannot be blamed, and called on officials to deal with the water problem. Street protests over water shortages spread from the oil-rich southwestern Khuzestan province to a nearby area overnight where one youth was shot dead with pellet guns and seven were injured, a police official said, blaming "counter-revolutionaries". "The people showed their displeasure, but we cannot really blame the people because the issue of water is not a small one especially in Khuzestan's hot climate," Khamenei was quoted by state TV as saying, in reference to the protests. "Now, thank God, all the various agencies, governmental and non-governmental, are working (to resolve the water crisis) and should continue with all seriousness," Khamenei added.