Iran seeks ‘urgent assistance’ to put out fire in UNESCO-listed Hyrcanian forests

Aircraft and staff to arrive from Turkey, more assistance may be sought from Russia, after Tehran ‘faced with the impossibility’ of fighting flames alone, officials tell state media

By AFP 22 November 2025, 1:27 pm

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Flames engulf trees in the forests of Chalus, Iran, amid days-long fires in the country's Hyrcanian forests, November 21, 2025. (MEHRAB FARSAD / ISNA / AFP)

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has requested foreign assistance in extinguishing a large fire that has ravaged UNESCO World Heritage-listed forests in the north of the country for several days, local media reported on Saturday.

The Hyrcanian forests stretch for about 1,000 kilometres along the Iranian coast of the Caspian Sea and into neighboring Azerbaijan.

UNESCO recognized the forests as a World Heritage Site in 2019, deeming them unique for both their age — between 25 and 50 million years old — and their varied biodiversity, as home to more than 3,200 species of plants.

A fire that broke out in the area in early November and was initially quelled reignited on November 15, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.

Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah, deputy to Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, wrote Friday on X that “faced with the impossibility of containing the fire,” Iran had “requested urgent assistance from friendly countries.”

“Two specialized water bomber planes, a helicopter, and eight people will be dispatched from Turkey,” Shina Ansari, head of the Iranian Environmental Protection Organization, said on Saturday.

“If necessary, we will also seek assistance from Russia,” she added on state television.

Trees are seen in the Hyrcanian forests in Alimestan, in Iran’s northern Mazandaran province, July 7, 2019. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

According to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, the fire was allegedly started by hunters in the rocky area of Elit in the province of Mazandaran, in northern Iran.

The country is currently facing one of its most severe droughts since records began six decades ago.

The director general of crisis management for Mazandaran province, Hossein Ali Mohammadi, described the operation to extinguish the fire as “one of the most complex in recent years.”

Homes and chickens are seen near the Hyrcanian forests in Alimestan, in Iran’s northern Mazandaran province, July 7, 2019. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

UNESCO says on its website that the Hyrcanian forests contain a “high degree of rare and endemic tree species” and are home to “many relict, endangered” plant species.

“Iranians are losing a natural heritage that is older than Persian civilization,” Kaveh Madani, a UN scientist and former Iranian environmental official, wrote on X.