Arasbaran forest fire "contained" after several days
According to officials in East Azerbaijan Province, the fire in the forests of Arasbaran (Qaradagh) has been contained; however, a number of social media users have reported that the fire is continuing.
Mohammad Bagher Honarbar, the director general of the East Azerbaijan Crisis Center, told Fars News Agency on Thursday that the fire in the pastures of the "God-Giving" county has been extinguished and that rescue forces are "in the process of spotting and cleaning up."
The East Azerbaijan governorate official also said that "two helicopters from the Ministry of Defense and the Red Crescent... are scheduled to enter the region."
However, a number of social media users have criticized the delay of local authorities in containing the fire, which started three days ago, and some of them have also said that the fire is still ongoing.
The 164,000-hectare Arasbar forests are located in the northernmost point of East Azerbaijan and Ardabil provinces, and recently, numerous media reports have been published about the cutting of trees in various parts of this forest.
Previously, Issa Kalantari, head of the Environmental Protection Organization, had said that 60 years ago there were 2.8 million hectares of forest in northern Iran, but now it has decreased to 1.3 million hectares.
Source: Radio Farda
