Iranian police have arrested several stone-throwing protesters furious at the failure of the local authorities to close a gigantic waste landfill, state media reports.
Residents of the village of Saravan in Iran’s northern Gilan province have been blocking the entrance to the garbage dump for more than two weeks, state broadcaster IRIB says.
Piles of stinking rubbish at the Saravan site now tower some 90 meters (295 feet) high, waste from the provincial capital Rasht and seven other cities that has been dumped there for nearly four decades.
Protesters say the landfill is causing diseases and health problems, and demand the site be closed immediately. The landfill site is due to close next year.
“It is impossible to humiliate us,” protesters chant, before hurling stones at the security forces, IRIB reported. Five police officers have been injured, Iran’s Fars News agency says.
No details were given on the number of people arrested.
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