Top 10 Glaciers in Iran
Iran is not a country most people associate with glaciers, yet the Alborz Mountains stretching across the north of the country — and, to a lesser degree, the Zagros ranges in the west — host a surprising number of permanent ice and snow fields. The glaciers here exist because several peaks exceed 4,000 metres, where winter snowfall can exceed summer melt at high elevations. Iran's glaciers are small by Himalayan or Andean standards, but they are hydrologically important: they feed rivers that supply water to Tehran and other cities in an otherwise arid nation.
Climate change is accelerating glacier retreat in Iran. Monitoring efforts by Iranian researchers have recorded significant mass loss across most Alborz glaciers over the past several decades, raising concerns about long-term freshwater supply. Understanding which glaciers exist and where they are located is a starting point for any serious assessment of this threat. Use the glacier map to explore the Alborz range and locate these ice bodies in their landscape context.
1. Alamut Glacier, Central Alborz
Located on the northern flanks of the central Alborz, the Alamut Glacier is among the more accessible of Iran's permanent ice fields. It occupies a northeast-facing cirque that provides shade throughout much of the day, slowing melt. The glacier feeds meltwater into the Alamut Valley, a historically significant region known for its medieval Assassin castles. The ice surface is relatively clean in its upper section but carries morainal debris toward the snout. It has been the subject of Iranian university research into mass balance, making it one of the better-documented glaciers in the country.
2. Takht-e Soleyman Glacier, Mount Takht-e Soleyman, Alborz
Mount Takht-e Soleyman (Throne of Solomon), at approximately 4,652 metres, is the highest peak in the central Alborz west of Damavand. Its summit and upper flanks carry several ice patches and a small glacier on the north-facing aspect. The glacier is fed by high-altitude snowfall that persists year-round on the shaded exposures. Approaches are made from villages in Taleghan Valley. The peak is a challenging mountaineering objective in its own right, and the glacier adds both technical complexity and scenic distinction to ascents of its north face.
3. Yakh-Morad Glacier, Alborz
Yakh-Morad, whose name translates roughly as "the desired ice," sits in the central Alborz and has been referenced in Iranian geographic surveys since the early twentieth century. It is a valley glacier of modest length situated in a high basin north of the main Alborz crest. Like many Iranian glaciers, it has a significant debris cover on its lower tongue, which insulates the underlying ice from direct solar radiation but complicates visual assessment of its extent. Local communities historically used ice harvested from this and nearby glaciers for summer cooling before modern refrigeration.
4. Damavand Glacier, Mount Damavand, Alborz
Mount Damavand is a dormant stratovolcano at 5,610 metres — the highest peak in Iran and the highest volcano in Asia. Its upper flanks carry several perennial snowfields and small glaciers, most prominently on north and northeast exposures. The Damavand glacier complex is modest in size given the mountain's height, partly because the volcanic topography does not create the deep cirques typical of glaciated ranges. The summit is a major mountaineering destination, attracting thousands of climbers annually, and the high-altitude ice fields are encountered on the upper sections of the standard northern route.
5. Tochal Glacier, Tochal Massif, Alborz
The Tochal Massif rises directly above Tehran, making it one of the most urban-adjacent glacier systems in the world. The Tochal ski resort and cable car system provides access to approximately 3,900 metres, and above the ski infrastructure, permanent ice persists in sheltered north-facing gullies. The glacier remnants here are small and fragmented but are significant for their location — they are visible from the outskirts of a metropolitan area of over fifteen million people. Their continued retreat is monitored partly because it symbolises climate change in a very visible way to the Iranian public.
6. Alam Kuh North Glacier, Alborz
Alam Kuh, at roughly 4,850 metres, is a technically demanding peak in the central Alborz and carries the most impressive glaciated terrain in Iran aside from Damavand. The north face of Alam Kuh is a steep rock and ice wall that has attracted Iranian and international mountaineers since the mid-twentieth century. The glacier on the north side occupies a well-defined cirque and feeds meltwater into drainage systems flowing toward the Caspian lowlands. Approaches to the glacier require multi-day treks from the Kandovan area, and the terrain is rugged even by Alborz standards.
7. Shir Glacier, Alborz
The Shir Glacier occupies a high basin in the eastern Alborz, fed by northerly winds that deposit snowfall on the sheltered side of the main ridge. It is a relatively isolated glacier with limited published research, though satellite imagery confirms the presence of a persistent ice body. Like several glaciers in this part of the Alborz, it has shown a retreating margin over the past thirty years according to Landsat image comparisons published by Iranian glaciologists. The watershed it drains is part of the system feeding into rivers that flow toward the Caspian Sea.
8. Dena Glacier, Zagros Mountains
The Zagros Mountains in western Iran are far lower than the Alborz, but the highest peaks of the Dena range in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province reach above 4,400 metres, sufficient for small glacier remnants and persistent snowfields. The Dena glacier system is the most southerly significant ice body in Iran and one of the most southerly in the Middle East. Its location at lower latitude makes it particularly sensitive to warming temperatures. Iranian mountaineers have documented its contraction over recent decades, and its survival depends on continued cold winters delivering sufficient snowfall to offset summer ablation.
9. Sabalan Glacier, Mount Sabalan, Azerbaijan Province
Mount Sabalan is a dormant shield volcano in northwest Iran, reaching approximately 4,811 metres. Its caldera contains a crater lake that freezes in winter, and permanent ice and snowfields exist on its higher flanks in sheltered aspects. The Sabalan glacier is modest in extent but is the primary glacial feature of Iran's northwest. The region experiences a continental climate with cold winters and hot summers, and the glacier persists because of the altitude rather than the latitude. It is an important landmark for trekkers and mountaineers in the Ardabil Province who approach via the town of Sarein.
10. Hezar Glacier, Mount Hezar, Kerman Province
Mount Hezar in Kerman Province in southern Iran rises to approximately 4,465 metres and is the highest peak in the southern Zagros. Persistent snowfields and minor glacial ice exist on the higher northern slopes. The presence of any ice at this latitude — roughly the same as the Sahara Desert — is notable and depends on the altitude, the occasional winter snowstorms that cross Iran from the west, and northerly aspects that limit direct insolation. Hezar is remote, with approaches requiring long drives across desert terrain before the ascent into the mountain zone, but it is well-known among Iranian mountaineers as a southern extremity of serious alpine terrain.