The famed river bridges of the Iranian city of Isfahan are a beloved tourist draw — but much of the time their stone arches span just sand and rocks, not water. <\/p>\n
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Drought and upstream water diversions have seen the Zayandeh Rood, “fertile river” in Persian, run dry since 2000, with only rare exceptions.<\/p>\n
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Sitting on a quay with two friends, 60-year-old Jalal Mirahmadi gazed with melancholy at the riverbed, which became the site of a farmers’ protest late last year.<\/p>\n