Iranian authorities have summoned 10 citizens in the northeastern city of Sabzevar to face charges linked to protests over repeated power and water cuts, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on Monday.
HRANA listed their names adding that they were ordered to appear before the third branch of the Sabzevar public and revolutionary prosecutor’s office within 10 days to present their final defense.
According to the report, the individuals face charges of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic,membership in a group aimed at disrupting state security, and assembly and collusion against national security.”
They were previously detained during July demonstrations in Sabzevar against rolling blackouts and water shortages, and later released on bail.
At the time, videos verified by rights groups showed residents rallying outside the governor’s office, chanting “Water, electricity, life — our absolute rights” and “If we don’t get our rights, we won’t leave.”
The summons comes amid mounting public frustration. Over the summer, Iran faced its second-driest year in five decades, with rainfall 43% below average. Widespread outages have disrupted daily life, industrial production and the economy, triggering protests in several cities such as Shiraz and Kazeroun.
In Sabzevar, protests entered a second night in July, with security forces firing tear gas at demonstrators. Footage sent to Iran International showed crowds chanting “Shameless, shameless” as they fled the crackdown.
Authorities have attributed the shortages to drought and surging demand, while critics cite years of mismanagement, sanctions and neglected infrastructure.
“Caught between drought and choking dust storms, Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province faces an escalating environmental crisis as the Hamoun wetlands dry up and 120-day winds turn into walls of sand,” Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.
Experts warn more than 85% of Hamoun has vanished, driving mass farmland loss, biodiversity collapse, and waves of forced migration.
Studies say 65% of croplands around the wetland are already barren, while dust storms now last over 200 days a year, cutting visibility to a few hundred meters and worsening respiratory illness.
Officials blame water shortages from Afghanistan’s dams on the Helmand River, which deprive Hamoun of its lifeline. Local researchers say completion of the Bakhshabad dam could “deal the final blow” to the wetland.
With little hope of receiving the agreed water rights from Kabul, Iranian specialists are pushing homegrown fixes.
Despite pilot projects and pledges, locals complain of empty promises. “They say they will revive Hamoun, but nothing happens -- every day it dries more,” a resident told Tasnim.
Environmentalists warn time is running out: without immediate action, the region risks irreversible collapse, with fallout for Iran and its neighbors.
Fars News, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, said Café Kariz in the Nahjul-Balagha Park had become “a venue for serving alcoholic drinks, nudity, violation of trade regulations and dancing.”
It said the establishment was sealed by the Public Security Police, urging authorities to “criminalize the serving of alcohol and mixed-gender parties in commercial venues” and to act without leniency against violators or officials suspected of collusion.
Possession and consumption of alcohol are illegal in Iran, carrying punishments ranging from fines and lashings to prison sentences. Despite the ban, underground networks and discreet venues continue to supply alcohol, often at high cost and under strict secrecy, according to both state and independent reports.
Fars said police inspections would continue to target what it called norm-breaking establishments.
In recent weeks, authorities have shuttered several cafés and restaurants across Iran, citing reasons ranging from live music and mixed-gender gatherings to customers failing to observe compulsory hijab.
According to the reformist daily Ham-Mihan, official and unofficial reports indicate that over the past two months around 20 cafés, garden restaurants, and wedding halls in Tehran, Dezful, Hamedan, Kashan, and Maragh in Isfahan province have been closed for what officials described as violations related to women’s dress and mandatory hijab.
In Qom, authorities last week permanently closed a café for operating without a license and hosting live music, while in July the provincial Revolutionary Guards announced the closure of three other cafés over “multiple violations including hijab infractions.”
In Dezful, three popular cafés were sealed in early September for what police described as breaches of hijab regulations.
Javad Mortazavi, who ran a marriage registration office in Behbahan, was in a temporary marriage with his secretary for several years before she married another man.
After her marriage, Mortazavi invited the husband to his office, laced his drink with sedatives, and fatally stabbed him in March 2023, HRANA said.
The cleric was put to death in Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz.
In a 2023 report, Iranian newspaper Etemad said that Mortazavi had invited the woman’s husband to his office under the pretext of handing over a marriage certificate and killed him by poisoning his coffee.
The report said another account suggested he first drugged the man unconscious and then stabbed him to death on a street in Behbahan.
Some reports claimed Mortazavi even led the funeral prayer over the body before burying the victim in a deserted area, according to Etemad.
At least 818 people, including 21 women, have been executed in Iran this year in Iran according to HRANA.
Iran accounted for 64% of all known global executions in 2024, with at least 972 people executed, according to Amnesty International.
