Northern Iran’s once-thriving wetlands are facing severe ecological collapse, with environmental officials warning of an imminent disaster after the absence of hundreds of thousands of migratory birds this autumn, Tasnim reported on Monday.
The wetlands of Golestan Province -- part of the ancient Hyrcanian ecosystem -- have largely dried up amid three consecutive years of drought, poor water management, and upstream dam construction, according to environmental experts and local officials.
“This year the sky over Golestan is empty,” Tasnim quoted provincial experts as saying. “Wetlands that once hosted half a million birds have fallen silent, turning into potential dust storm hotspots.”
Meteorological data show rainfall in the province has dropped 38% below long-term averages, while temperatures have risen by 1.2°C.
The resulting “hydrological collapse,” compounded by unregulated water extraction and agricultural mismanagement, has left major wetlands -- including Gomishan, Alma Gol, Ajigol, and Alagol-- on the brink of disappearance.
“The drying of these wetlands threatens not only biodiversity but also human livelihoods,” said Mohammadreza Molla-Abbasi, a university professor. “Their ecological value is 200 times greater than farmland, yet poor governance has pushed them to the edge.”
Environmental activists say the loss of migratory species such as flamingos, pelicans and ducks reflects a deeper breakdown of natural systems. The exposed lakebeds are already producing saline dust, worsening air quality and damaging crops in surrounding communities.
“The wetlands are dying,” said AbdolhakimEdrisi, head of a Golestan environmental NGO. “Without urgent national action to restore water rights, revise farming practices and coordinate interprovincial water management, this crisis will soon turn into a humanitarian one.”
Experts warn that if the situation continues, parts of northern Iran could transform into new sources of dust storms, deepening the environmental and economic strain on one of the country’s most fertile regions.
Hossein Pourfarzaneh, the organization’s chief, said during a ceremony in Tehran that the newly inducted aircraft-- along with one helicopter and five small passenger planes -- would add more than 2,500 seats to the country’s aviation network.
“These projects are aimed at improving service quality and expanding air connectivity across the country, including to the islands and remote provinces,” Pourfarzaneh was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.
He said 13 transportation projects worth about $125 million had been launched to strengthen Iran’s air infrastructure.
According to Pourfarzaneh, Iran has added over 5,100 passenger seats since 2021.
Iran has struggled for decades to modernize its aging fleet due to international sanctions restricting aircraft sales and access to spare parts.
More than half of its estimated 330 commercial planes are grounded, forcing Tehran to rely on leased or secondhand aircraft.
Earlier this year, Iran took delivery of several used Airbus A330s from China under barter deals involving oil, according to domestic media reports.
Late in September, an Iranian lawmaker said Russian MiG-29 fighter jets have arrived in Iran and officials also discussed acquiring additional Russian-built jets, including Sukhoi Su-35s, as part of broader defense and transport cooperation with Moscow.
Lawmakers passed the measure with 144 votes in favor, 108 against, and three abstentions out of 262 present. The reform amends the Monetary and Banking Law to redefine the rial as equal to 10,000 current rials and introduces a new subunit, the qiran or gheran, worth one hundredth of a rial.
Under the legislation, both old and new rials will circulate for up to three years during a transition period. The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) must establish operational procedures within two years of enactment and publicly announce the start of the change through official media.
According to the new law, after the transition period, all financial obligations denominated in the current rial will be settled using the new unit.
The CBI will also be responsible for managing the withdrawal of old banknotes and coins and for setting foreign exchange rates under the country’s current exchange regime.
The plan -- first proposed by the government in 2019 and discussed across three administrations and parliamentary terms -- has undergone multiple revisions. The latest version retains the rial as Iran’s official currency, dropping earlier proposals to rename it the toman.
Shamseddin Hosseini, head of parliament’s Economic Committee, said the measure’s main purpose was to “make banknotes more functional and facilitate financial transactions.”
He added that the abundance of zeros in the national currency had caused accounting and operational difficulties, adding that similar redenominations had been undertaken by countries such as Turkey in 2003 and 2005.
Hosseini acknowledged that cutting zeros would not directly reduce inflation or address Iran’s underlying economic challenges, but called it “an unavoidable adjustment” given years of high inflation and declining purchasing power.
Iran’s central bank governor Mohammad Reza Farzin said in May that the redenomination would take place this year as part of wider banking reforms.
The change, he added, would align official usage with common practice among Iranians, who already express prices in tomans -- equivalent to 10,000 rials.
The reform comes amid persistent inflation of about40%, a more than 90% loss in the rial’s value since US sanctions were reimposed in 2018, and widespread economic hardship.
Economists say that while the move could have short-term psychological benefits, it is unlikely to solve Iran’s deeper structural issues, including fiscal imbalances, monetary instability, and limited central bank independence.
“This policy is largely cosmetic,” economist Ahmad Alavi told Iran International in August. “Without tackling the roots of inflation -- from liquidity growth to systemic inefficiencies -- removing zeros will not restore the rial’s value.”
Iran has debated currency reform for decades, with earlier efforts raised under the administrations of Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Hassan Rouhani. The current legislation, delayed several times by the Guardian Council, now returns to the body for final review before becoming law.