The Islamic Republic’s security forces arrested at least 70 people including elderly citizens, in a village in West Azarbaijan province for protesting about environmental damage.

A teachers’ group reported that residents launched a peaceful demonstration in the village of Qarah Qeshlaq on Wednesday to protest the environmental repercussions of the construction of a salt factory affiliated with the IRGC.

On the same day, government agents raided the village and arrested dozens of protesters on the orders of the intelligence department of Salmas district.

The female detainees were subjected to verbal abuse and threats of sexual violence by the regional director of the intelligence department, the report said.

Residents have voiced concerns about the construction of the IRGC-affiliated salt factory and the subsequent discharge of industrial wastewater into local water sources. They argue that these activities could have adverse consequences on the region's environment, leading to the destruction of pastures and gardens and rendering agricultural lands unusable.

In an interview with Iran International in August, Nikahang Kowsar, an environmental analyst, called the IRGC “an environmental menace willing to destroy Iran’s water resources just to line its own pockets,” citing the building of dams “to finance the Quds Force budget.”

In an article for Middle East Institute, Kowsar branded the IRGC as Iran’s “water mafia” and added, “This is how the cost of building a dam like Gotvand [south of Iran] can increase from $1.5 billion to $3.3 billion, and nobody even dares to ask where all the money has gone when the contractor did such a poor job.”