Situation in Iran’s Kazeroun city under control: Provincial governor

The governor of Iran’s southern Fars Province says the situation in the city of Kazeroun is under control following protests against a plan to separate some districts of the city and merge them into a new town.

“In spite of some sporadic unrest, the situation in the city is under control in general,” Esmail Tabadar told reporters in the provincial capital city of Shiraz on Thursday.

Kazeroun had been the scene of unrest over the recent days amid protests against a plan by the local administration to divide the city.

The plan, drawn up by a lawmaker in November 2017, aims to separate the ancient site of Bishapur, founded during the Sasanid era in 266 AD, and a few other landmarks from Kazeroun and annex them to the newly planned town of Kouhchenar.

The protesters say the landmarks are part of Kazeroun’s identity and should not be separated.

One killed in unrest

The governor of Fars province also rejected social media reports about the number of casualties in the unrest, saying, “People should not pay attention to social media rumors. The figures about the number of casualties are not true. Only one person was killed on Wednesday night during these clashes.”

During a visit to Kazeroun earlier this month, Tabadar had said that following objections to the demarcation, the plan had been shelved pending changes.