TEHRAN, Nov 22, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - 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 neighbouring Azerbaijan.

UNESCO recognised 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 specialised water bomber planes, a helicopter, and eight people will be 
dispatched from Turkey," Shina Ansari, head of the Iranian Environmental 
Protection Organisation, said on Saturday.

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

According to the 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".

UNESCO says on its website the Hyrcanian forests contain "a large number of 
rare and endemic tree species" and are home to "many relic and 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.