TEHRAN, Iran — The long, cool shadows of the old sycamore trees on the stretch between Tehran’s downtown Valiasr Intersection and Valiasr Square are disappearing fast. There are very few sycamores left at irregular intervals on each side of the street. The ones that are still there have few leaves and an ugly appearance.
On June 12, the website Nazar News published pictures of 15 more sycamore trees being cut down. However, the mayor of Tehran’s 6th District, Azim Babaei, told Azad News Agency, “Aside from the trees that were destroyed by the [recent] storm, no other tree has been cut down deliberately. Only a few trees have been cut down due to the problems they created for residents.”
