From the Liveblog of
Saturday, November 22, 2025
Iran seeks help with fire threatening UNESCO-listed forests
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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 report.
The Hyrcanian forests stretch for about 1,000 kilometers 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 reports.
Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah, deputy to Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, wrote yesterday on X that “faced with the impossibility of containing the fire,” Iran had “requested urgent assistance from friendly countries.”
Heartbreaking scenes from Elit, Iran, where wildfire is damaging parts of the ancient Hyrcanian forests — a UNESCO World Heritage treasure and one of Earth’s last temperate rainforests.
Iranians are losing a natural heritage older than Persian civilization. pic.twitter.com/XKaVOXuqkl
— Kaveh Madani (@KavehMadani) November 21, 2025
“Two specialized water bomber planes, a helicopter, and eight people will be dispatched from Turkey,” Shina Ansari, head of the Iranian Environmental Protection Organization, says on Saturday.
“If necessary, we will also seek assistance from Russia,” she adds on state television.
The country is currently facing one of its most severe droughts since records began six decades ago.
The Times of Israel Community.