Has Iran Become Unsafe for Wildlife Activists?

Kavous Seyed Emami, an Iranian-Canadian professor and wildlife campaigner, who was imprisoned and died while in custody.    

The Asiatic cheetah was recently in the news as being on the brink of extinction with less than 53 remaining in Iran. Much of this has been attributed to factors ranging from habitat destruction, desertification, land-use change, vehicular accidents, and local persecution. Despite various efforts that were put into protecting the cheetah in recent years, there has been no change in the conservation of this magnificent cat. But anthropogenic factors are not the only cause of the cheetah's continuing decline in Iran. Just recently, an Iranian-Canadian professor named Kavous Seyed Emami was captured by members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and died while in custody. Iranian officials stated that he and his colleagues used surveys of cheetahs as a guise for spying in strategically delicate areas. Professor Emami was the founder of an organization named Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, whose members are also jailed under the same pretext. These include the group's CEO Morad Tahbaz and Niloufar Bayani, a Wildlife Conservation Society research fellow who had previously supported U.N Environment projects in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, and Sudan. There has been no evidence cited regarding the accusations against Professor Emami, and this drew concerns that the IRGC targeted the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation because several of its members are binational who were educated in the west and have affiliations with international conservation groups. According to the country's judiciary, Professor Emami committed suicide last week while in custody but his family denied this and have filed a complaint.

Asiatic cheetah

I cannot think of anything more shocking and appalling than what happened to Professor Emami. This man, who happens to care so deeply about nature and his country, was working to protect Iran's wildlife, including cheetahs, from various anthropogenic factors. How can the country's government have an impression that Professor Emami and his associates were using surveys of cheetahs as a pretext for spying? What has this man done that is deemed traitorous and unforgivable to his country? No evidence for these so-called "allegations" has been presented and this man and his associates were targeted just like that without any proper reason. I really think this implies that Professor Emami and his organization and its members are probably victims of Iran's political disturbance as the environment becomes a focus of bitter fighting between rival power groups. In addition to Professor Emami, Iranian government officials have also come under the pressure. One example was seen in the case of Kaveh Madani, deputy head of the country's environmental protection agency, who was arrested this recent weekend. It is unknown for what reason he was detained. My impression is that when Iranian authorities detain environmental activists like Professor Emami for absurd reasons like spying for intelligence agencies in the west, it spells further trouble for the Asiatic cheetahs. These people are working to save these cats from the brink of extinction and they get wrongfully detained by the authorities. This goes to show that the wildlife of Iran is not being given significant attention, in order to protect and conserve it. I urge the government of Iran to please respect the work of environmental activists because they are trying to protect the country's wildlife, especially cheetahs, which number less than 53 and will become extinct in a matter of months without intensive protection measurements.

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