On Sunday, 1 November 2026, the day of Abangan, Prince Reza Pahlavi called this ancient festival "a precious legacy of our ancestors" in a message on his official channel and urged his compatriots, in the absence of a national government, to protect Iran's nature together with its park rangers.
He described Abangan as a symbol of Iranians' age-old respect for water, nature and life, and wrote that in the "dark era of the Islamic Republic" Iran's nature, like its people, has fallen victim to decades of mismanagement, incompetence and plunder. Prince Reza Pahlavi cited dying forests, dried-up rivers and wetlands and damaged habitats as evidence of this devastation.
Remembering fallen park rangers
A large part of the message was devoted to park rangers. Prince Reza Pahlavi called them "honourable and devoted" and wrote that, despite a lack of resources and the absence of legal and financial support, they continue to protect the homeland's natural heritage and sometimes lose their lives doing so. On this Abangan he honoured the memory of rangers who have died.
Iran's park rangers have for years complained of low pay, shortages of staff and equipment and the lack of legal backing in confrontations with poachers; a number of them have been killed in such clashes.
A free Iran's programme for nature
In another part of the message, Prince Reza Pahlavi outlined environmental policy in Iran after the Islamic Republic. In a free Iran, he said, restoring forests and wetlands, protecting habitats and wildlife and the scientific management of natural resources will be national priorities. He called ensuring rangers' physical and job security, legal protection, proper equipment and a decent livelihood "an undeniable necessity".
The message follows plans being drawn up around Prince Reza Pahlavi for Iran's environmental crises. Last week two advisers to the Iran Prosperity Project described Iran's energy crisis and air pollution as the result of 47 years of Islamic Republic rule and set out a way out. The message was released one day after Prince Reza Pahlavi's 66th birthday.
He ended his message with the wish that Iran's natural heritage would flourish again "in the shadow of the homeland's freedom and prosperity" and endure for future generations.
Prince Reza Pahlavi called restoring forests and wetlands and the legal and financial support of park rangers national priorities for a free Iran.
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first.