The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has shelled protected areas of Shaho Mountain in Kamyaran County, Kurdistan Province, causing a widespread wildfire that remains active.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that in recent days, IRGC forces told residents of villages around the mountain that access to the area would be prohibited for several days.
The forces then shelled the mountain, setting fire to a large part of the protected area.
Videos received by KHRN show the extent of the wildfire. IRGC forces have prevented environmental activists and local residents from entering the area to contain the blaze.
The Shaho and Kusalan protected area covers 57,236 hectares between the cities of Sarvabad, Ravansar, Paveh, Marivan and Kamyaran, near the border with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
It was designated a protected area under the management of Iran’s Department of Environment in 2009, pursuant to Resolution 303 of the Supreme Council for the Environment.
Environmental activists said the IRGC had built several military bases in the protected area since 2007, under the pretext of countering the presence of forces affiliated with Kurdish opposition parties.
Large parts of the area catch fire each year during security exercises.
Despite protests by environmental activists, extensive areas of pasture and forest have been destroyed during the construction of military bases and roads.
IRGC forces also deliberately set fire each year to pastures and forests around military installations, claiming this is intended to “prevent Kurdish opposition party forces from using vegetation cover to carry out attacks”.
