Devastating fires sweeping through Iran's protected Khaeez area, which includes forests and wildlife habitats in the south of the country, are exposing significant shortcomings in the nation's crisis management system.
Ahadi, who studied medicine at the University of Tabriz alongside her classmate Pezeshkian, told Iran International that after the Islamic Revolution, a radical group declared that women should wear the hijab, and it was Pezeshkian who was responsible for this group.
“It was not an official policy from [Supreme Leader] Khomeini or Tehran,” she recalled.
Ahadi’s first hand experience of Pezeshkian’s alleged misogyny directly challenges the mainstream media’s portrayal of Pezeshkian as a “reformer.”
“At first we did not take them seriously because they were a small group. We organized demonstrations on the streets of Tabriz. I held speeches on the street. We were against the hijab,” she said.
According to her, the Islamists “with beards were aggressive” and were part of Pezeshkian’s pro-Khomeini movement.
“[They] attacked us and said sexual insults. Later these men came with knives," she said.
As violence against women intensified in Tabriz, northwest Iran, Ahadi said protesters were forced to retreat from their street demonstrations.
“During one demonstration, a 16-year-old girl fell. I felt compelled to help her and went back, even though the men were chasing us with knives. It was very dangerous,” said Ahadi.
She also recounted that during her time working at a hospital near the medical school, Pezeshkian insisted that female employees wear a hijab. Some men told Ahadi, “If you want to enter the hospital, you need to wear a hijab.”
Ahadi said one of the Islamists, part of Pezeshkian’s group, enforced the compulsory hijab at the Tabriz hospital with a pistol. She responded, “If you have the courage, shoot.”
The dissident, who at the time was part of the Iranian left in Tabriz, said Khomeini’s “cultural revolution purged all universities” of secular freedoms.
According to her, Pezeshkian boasted that the University of Tabriz was the first Iranian university to undergo a "cultural revolution" orchestrated by the Islamic Republic.
This Islamist-driven purge of Tabriz's academic institutions, Ahadi said, led to her expulsion.
Pezeshkian and his violent Islamist movement in Tabriz were responsible for the murders of three students, according to Ahadi. She posted a picture on X of a student named Massoud, whose eyes were gouged out due to his opposition to the emerging Islamist regime. Two other students were also reportedly executed by the Islamists in Tabriz.
“We brought Massoud to a cemetery, and I delivered a speech. I said that this is a reactionary regime that is beginning to murder people,” she recounted.
The Islamic Republic executed Ahadi's husband in 1980. She was not at home when the regime raided her apartment and seized him.
Ahadi, who served as the spokeswoman for the Anti-Stoning Committee against the Islamic Republic’s medieval practice primarily targeting women, said, “Pezeshkian gave an interview with Iranian TV and said he ordered the hijab at the university before Khomeini started it.”
This week, the Iranian state-controlled outlet Tabnak posted one of Pezeshkian’s previous interviews regarding his role in implementing the forced hijab. Subsequently, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) publicized and shared the Tabnak report widely.
Ahadi’s account further corroborates Iran International contributor Majid Mohammadi’s piece, which details Pezeshkian’s misogynistic actions.
“He has been a strong advocate of compulsory hijab and cancel culture, even stating that he enforced these policies in a hospital and university under his management right after the 1979 Islamic takeover, before they were mandated,” Mohammadi wrote recently.
According to Ahadi and Mohammadi, Pezeshkian’s revolutionary political Islamism was even more extreme than Khomeini’s, who enforced the compulsory hijab in 1983.
Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Shah, fervent slogans such as "Wear a veil, or we will punch your head" and "Death to the unveiled" were promulgated.
Ahadi criticized the international media's portrayal of Pezeshkian, a cardiac surgeon, in his role as President.
"The international media reports that because a surgeon is in charge, everything is better. That is not true regarding Pezeshkian…his previous actions tell a different story," she said.
The authorities in the affected regions, Behbahan and the neighboring Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces, have reportedly struggled to contain the blazes.
Despite the deployment of two Red Crescent helicopters, local media report that the fire remains unchecked.
The fire, which ignited on Monday afternoon, has reemphasized concerns among observers about the vulnerabilities in Iran's nature reserves and the state's failure to protect these critical areas.
Azam Bahrami, an environmental activist, spoke to International, highlighting the lack of effective planning for such disasters: "There is no proper planning in place in Iran to deal with such fires," she said, pointing out flaws that exacerbate the situation in Khaeez and the broader Zagros region.
Confirming extensive damage, Hamzeh Mohaqeqzadeh, the governor of Kohgiluyeh district, reported that large areas of farms, grasslands, and plant life have been consumed by the fire.
Environmental activists have long advocated for more effective firefighting strategies, especially in terrains characterized by mountainous regions, dry vegetation, and strong winds, as these measures could help prevent such disasters.
"Khaeez is burning, and there is nothing we can do about it," said Behnam Andik, a water resources student at the University of Tehran who expressed his frustration on social media about the lack of resources.
Bahrami also criticized the state's Crisis Management Organization for its ineffectiveness, noting, "The Organization is essentially a crisis in itself, despite being a complex body with influential members, including the governor and the president."
He also pointed out that the budget, ranging from 6,000 to 7,000 billion rials (approximately 10 to 11.5 million USD), is insufficient to handle natural disasters such as fires and floods.
The ongoing fires in Khaeez, home to wildlife such as deer, goats, leopards, and caracals, highlight both an environmental catastrophe and a governance failure. Established in 1998 and spanning over 33,000 hectares, this protected area is crucial for biodiversity and the livelihoods of local and nomadic communities.
Following a fire in the Zagros forests on June 24, the state-run Tasnim News Agency quoted environmental activist Mohammad Yazdanpour, who claimed that the fires were intentionally set to convert the forest into vineyards and fig orchards.
Yazdanpour also mentioned that the Crisis Management Organization failed to convene a meeting to address the situation, which was a departure from their previous responses to such incidents.
Reza Dadmehr, a retired forestry professor, spoke to state-owned IRNA in December 2023 about the lack of modern firefighting equipment in Iran's forests.
"One of the reasons for the prolonged firefighting efforts in forests is the lack of new equipment. The obsolescence of firefighting facilities and equipment, along with economic and social challenges, are major contributors to these fires," Dadmehr said.
As Iran's forests, especially in the Zagros range, face ongoing threats from fires worsened by land-clearing, agricultural mismanagement, and inadequate crisis response, these challenges will continue to endanger one of the nation's most vital ecological and cultural resources.
