More Quixotic than Quixote: An Ecologist in Iran

From the L.A. Times:

TEHRAN — His son is named after the river born where the Tigris and Euphrates meet. His wife once complained that he loved a rare species of yellow deer more than her.
 

His realm runs from sprawling salt deserts to the snowcapped peaks of the Zagros Mountains, from southern marshes along the Persian Gulf to damp northern forests known as the "cloud jungle." 

Mohammad Darvish, 47, is Iran's green gladiator, engaged in a quixotic, often lonesome quest to elevate his homeland's environmental IQ. In a nation where security and economic concerns overshadow threats to a varied and fragile ecosystem, he even dares to oppose nuclear power, sacrosanct to Iran's leaders.

 

"It is budding, but it is far from being a movement," the indefatigable Darvish says of environmental consciousness in Iran. "But I am sure the environment will be a full-fledged movement one day, and Iran will have Green [political] parties that will send members to parliament."...

To dream the impossible dream, eh?

He's flying under the mullahs' radar for now. I predict, though, that if keeps tilting at the Ayatollah, his days are bound to be numbered.