An environmental official said a wildfire raging in the Hawizeh Marshes, a complex of marshes straddling western borders with Iraq, has burned out on the Iranian side but was further spreading westward into Iraqi soil. "The blaze erupted three days ago in Iran's Khuzestan Province. Fortunately the fire went out after four hours as it hit the water areas. It affected an area of 200 to 300 hectares," said Ahmadreza Lahijanzadeh, head of the provincial Department of Environment. "But it has engulfed the southern [parts] of Iraq due to westerly winds," he was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency. Satellite images were used to track the fire's progress. They showed the fierce fire had consumed over eight hectares of the Iraqi side of the marshes by Thursday.
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