Details added (first version posted at 01:20)
Azerbaijan, Baku, 27 August / Trend /
Police forces used tear gas against protesters in the Iranian cities of Urmia and Tabriz, the official website of the Association for the rights of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran (ADAPP) reported.
On Saturday, the population of Urmia rally because of the draining of Lake Urmia and the omission of the Iranian Parliament in connection with this situation.
A collision began between rally participants and security forces. Police used tear gas against crowd.
Several people were detained.
Also, at about 20:00 local time, similar protests were held in Tabriz. Here, police clashed with protesters too. Security forces detained several participants in the rally.
The situation remains tense.
Some time ago, in Tabriz quarter Gumtepe 30 Azerbaijanis were detained by Iranian security forces during the Iftar ceremony.
During the demonstrations of Iranian Azerbaijanis to save Lake Urmia on April 2, 2011, 70 protesters were arrested and several were injured. The demonstrators brought water in a glass and poured it into the lake. Protesters made slogans such as "We are too late", "No water in the Lake and we have not woke up yet".
The Lake Urmia is the second most salty lake in Iranian Azerbaijan Province.
Iran's largest lake, Urmia has dried up almost a third, director of the Iranian State Department for Lakes Protection Ali Nazardust said earlier. Building dams, decrease in rainfall and other negative factors led to drying up of the Lake Urmia.
At present, the salinity of the lake's water is 330 percent, Nazardust said. Earlier, this figure was 160-170 percent. Earlier the reservoir covered 5,000 square meters.