TEHRAN – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that if enough attention had been paid to recommendations made about the issue of water in Khuzestan province “now surely we would not have had these problems.”

“In these 7-8 days one of our concerns have been the issue of Khuzestan, the issue of people’s water, and the problems of the people,” the Leader said after receiving the second dose of the Iranian-made COVIRAN BAREKAT coronavirus vaccine.

It is “really painful” that one notices that the people of Khuzestan with all these facilities and natural resources suffer from mismanagement of water resources.

Calling the people of Khuzestan “very loyal,” the Leader said “people are displeased.”

He added “the water problem is not a small problem” in a hot province such as Khuzestan.

Ayatollah Khamenei said now that the people are airing their grievances about water shortage naturally “no complain can be made of the people.”

Repeated droughts coupled with mismanagement of water resources have caused some people in the southwestern province of Khuzestan to lose partly or completely their crops. Their livestock, like buffalos, also need water to cool themselves in the heat of summer.

Such a situation has caused people in some cities in the province to hold protests.

Despite water scarcity, some farmers in the upstream have been growing rice or other crops which entail great water for irrigation.

In his Friday remarks, the Leader went on to say that during eight years of Saddam Hussein’s war against Iran in the 1980s the people of Khuzestan were at the forefront of the war and they really withstood the invaders.

During Saddam’s war against Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei was president.

“I was closely an eyewitness. I closely noticed how the people of Khuzestan were faithfully and earnestly sending their youth, sending their men (to the warfront to resist the invading army). Their women were helping. And (now) these faithful and enthusiastic people must not face these problems,” the Leader stated.

Ayatollah Khamenei added hopefully different government and non-government bodies have started a campaign to address the water problem in Khuzestan, suggesting that the next government to seriously follow the issue.

The government of President-elect Ebrahim Raisi will be sworn in on August 5.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Leader pointed to disruption in vaccinating the elderly against the coronavirus in certain instances, blaming the problem to foreign companies that reneged their promises to sell vaccines on time.

This lack of commitment to promises once again reminds that the Iranian people and officials that “we must stand on their own foot,” he pointed out.

“Reliance on others creates problems as it created in this case,” Ayatollah Khamenei remarked.

He added that Iran had no alternative that in addition to producing homegrown vaccines to import vaccines from reliable sources and this will continue.

However, the Leader suggested, the focus should be primarily on domestic production and the people should not remain waiting for arrival of foreign-manufactured vaccines.

PA/PA