Ismail Kherm, a veteran and environmental activist, said at a memorial ceremony for Eskandar Firouz: “Firouz used to say it wasn’t supposed to be that Lake Urmia would dry up—who allowed this to happen? It wasn’t supposed to be that all these wetlands, which are at risk, would have such a fate.”

According to Payam Ma, Kherm added: “Firouz complained about the officials’ lack of attention to the affairs of wetlands and lakes, and said: how did they bring the 153 wetlands that we had preserved with all our heart and soul, despite countless problems, to this state, and who allowed this to happen?”