The entry of "regulatory institutions" into the issue of forest fires in Iran

A director of the Forests, Rangelands and Watershed Management Organization has announced the entry of "supervisory institutions" into the discussion of numerous fires in Iran's forests and rangelands.

Reza Bayani, Director General of the Engineering and Studies Office of the Forests and Rangelands Organization, told ISNA news agency on Tuesday, July 21, that "we cannot base our decision on the fact that some people are setting fire to the forests with the intention of sabotage."

He said the organization had previously "anticipated" many of these fires but did not have sufficient resources to deal with them.

According to Mr. Bayani, this organization has difficulty accessing information and must pay a large fee to the Iranian Meteorological Organization to obtain information, and it obtains some of its information for free from the European Meteorological Organization website.

According to ISNA news agency, over the past month and a half, 1,300 fires have occurred in 13,000 hectares of forest and rangeland in Iran.

According to the report, during the extinguishing of these fires, seven people "from the public forces and firefighters lost their lives while extinguishing the fire."

Previously, Gholamreza Jalali, head of Iran's Defense Agency, had said that forest fires have no security reasons and are caused by a lack of safety precautions.

Source: Radio Farda