A wildfire continued to burn through protected Zagros forests near Behbahan for a fourth day on Monday, exposing persistent shortages of aerial firefighting equipment after similar blazes in southern Iran earlier this month.
The fire, which began on Friday on Badil Mountain in the Khaiez protected area of Khuzestan province, remained uncontrolled despite efforts by local volunteers, mountaineers and rescue teams, Iranian state media reported on Monday.
Officials said rugged terrain, strong winds and high temperatures have made firefighting operations difficult. Several active fire hotspots remain in remote mountain areas that require hours of hiking to reach.
The lack of dedicated aerial firefighting capacity has again drawn attention. Khuzestan province has no dedicated water-dropping helicopters or firefighting aircraft.
Khuzestan Governor Mohammadreza Mowlazadeh has requested that the central government dispatch a helicopter to assist with the operation.
The province's natural resources chief also stressed the urgent need for aerial support, saying most of the fire in accessible areas had been contained but blazes in hard-to-reach terrain continued to spread.
A local conservation volunteer died after suffering burns while helping to extinguish the fire on Saturday. One other person was injured.
The Khaiez and Badil areas are protected ecosystems in Khuzestan containing rangelands, shrubs and sidr trees that are vulnerable to wildfires during the summer. Heavy rainfall last year increased vegetation growth, raising the amount of dry fuel available for fires this season.
The blaze follows weeks of forest fires across the Zagros range in Fars province, where volunteers and environmental activists said widespread fires, aging equipment, limited resources and weak management had severely hampered firefighting efforts despite official announcements that the fires had been brought under control.
Fars province experienced an unusually severe wave of forest fires between May and late June.
