A New Ecosystem in Zagros Mountains and Fatal Fires of Iran

Dr. Amir Sharifi | Exclusive to iKurd.net

How aptly Edward Abbey in Desert Solitaire has said “The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only paradise we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need, if only we had the eyes to see.”

The news of such a love for inhabitants of my hometown was grim and gruesome. Fire had devoured the lives of Kurdish civilian activists as they battled with bare hands against raging blazes in the Abydar Mount overlooking the city of Sinna in Rojhalat in Eastern Kurdistan in Iran on July 25, 2025. Initially Hamid Moradi, a lawyer and the director of “shnay nawjin” or the “Breeze of New Life” lost his life; followed by the tragic death of two other friends, Chiako Yousefinezhad and Khabat Amini fatally injured in the same fire.

I lamented from afar, long before the onslaught of such fires, remembering the cool air, the coldness of the flowing spring water, the soft breeze caressing my childhood face and town from Mount Abydar. In my hometown, tens of thousands of mourners who had gathered in Sinne, turned their gratitude during the burial ceremony into anti-colonial rage and collective slogans against the repressive political regime of Iran and its colonial exploitation of Kurdish resources and deforestations, leading to the fatal fires in the Zagros Mountains.

Although this is not a paradox, Kurdish areas in Rojhalat or Eastern Kurdistan as a peripheral community are being deprived of their resources and water; extensive dams have been built and rivers diverted, subjecting Zagros Mountains, the source of the very survival of the habitat, to constant deforestation and perpetual dangers.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has wreaked havoc by deliberately contributing to the drying up the Sirwan River, an ancient river originating from the Zagros Mountains in Rojhalat in Eastern Kurdistan. In violation of all international laws, the regime has built diversion channels thus limiting the natural flow of the Sirwan river.

This encroachment has brought about utter devastation to an already vulnerable area. The river and its tributaries have served and sustained agricultural communities along the river for centuries in Eastern and Southern Kurdistan. The Iranian government’s overuse and abuse of this precious water resource has posed a serious threat to the economic and cultural survival of the many communities that live upstream and downstream.

The ecological threat to Kurdistan is so immense that women liberation and civilian organizations and movements under the slogan of “ئازادی, ژیان ژن,” “woman, life, freedom” have taken matters into their own hands in their attempt to condemn and play an active role in decolonizing the local resources.

The pillage nevertheless is not limited to Rojhalat or Eastern Kurdistan. The Turkish state has been following similar destructive patterns in Northern Kurdistan as well. It has ruthlessly continued to have a devastating impact on Kurdish populations living in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq by restricting water through its dam-building enterprises.

Turkey’s 12,000-year-old Kurdish antique town Hasankeyf to be destroyed with Ilisu Dam — Turkey’s 12,000-year-old Kurdish antique town Hasankeyf has been destroyed with Ilisu Dam. Photo: saradistribution.com

The fact of the matter is that the sociopolitical interests of the exploitative states outweigh any political and environmental considerations. The dam known as Ilisu flooded more than 50 Kurdish villages and 15 towns and brought under water in April of 2020 the city of Hasankeyf, a 12,000 years old, UNESCO recognized archaeological site.

Kurdish courageous youth and associations are to be complemented for their optimism and attempting to save Kurdistan proper from the grave threat of annihilation; the voracious geopolitical hegemony of dominant nations reveals a simple fact that democratic ideals need solidarity from intellectual and associational environmentalist movements as it is a struggle for local and global peace and justice.

Those who have lost their lives tragically, have inscribed a future that can only be built by abolishing or reducing the risk of environmental annihilation and disposition.

The environmental struggle is becoming our urgent rallying call, the impetus to make transformations in the socio-political fabric of our societies; in doing so, we need to join a united movement to safeguard ourselves and others. The Kurds should not be carrying the heavy burden of this struggle alone.

The three activists and volunteers were not the only ones nor are they the last as the environmental movement grows throughout the world. The environmentalists will have a greater impact on changing the status quo if other marginalized communities with a collective consciousness participate in a global social movement to protect and preserve the habitat for all human beings, plants, and animals.

Dr Amir Sharifi, a lecturer at California State University, Department of Linguistics, Long Beach.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.