Fire Contained at Taq-e Bostan in Kermanshah

According to reports, the fire on the slopes of Taq-e Bostan in Kermanshah has been contained, and officials have stated that there has been no damage to the ancient site. Morad Sheikh Veisi, the director of natural resources in Kermanshah province, said that the fire started at 9 PM on Tuesday. He stated, "Upon learning of the incident, we quickly arrived at the scene and, with the help of NGOs, managed to contain the fire after several hours." On the other hand, Alireza Moradi Bistuni, the director of the Taq-e Bostan cultural complex, told ISNA that the fire occurred in the heights of Taq-e Bostan and that the flames did not reach the cultural complex at all. He added that the fire did not even come within 200 meters of the Taq-e Bostan site, and therefore no damage was done to this historical area. In this regard, Nasser Esfandi, the technical deputy of the national forest and pasture protection unit, stated in an interview with ILNA that the cause of the incident was likely tourists or climbers. He also confirmed that the incident occurred in the sparse pastures surrounding the area and that there was no damage to the archaeological sites in the region. Taq-e Bostan is a collection of rock carvings and inscriptions from the Sassanian period located in the northwest of Kermanshah city in western Iran. This collection was built in the 3rd century AD and has significant artistic and historical value. The presence of mountains and springs in this location has made it one of the tourist attractions in the region.