Ali Beitollahi, member of the scientific council of the Road, Housing, and Urban Development Research Center of Iran, warned that, with the exception of Gilan Province, land subsidence has occurred in all provinces of the country. He noted that the rate of subsidence is expanding daily, yet policymakers, despite clear evidence, have not fully grasped the scale of the disaster.
Beitollahi highlighted cities with the highest levels of subsidence in Iran, adding: “In areas with high population density, the rate of subsidence is very high, including Mashhad, Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Kerman, and other major cities.”
He emphasized that subsidence is particularly evident in historical sites and cultural heritage, warning that this phenomenon has been observed in historic cities such as Yazd and Isfahan.
This academic noted that the size of subsidence zones is increasing daily, adding: “For example, in the south and southwest of Tehran, there is a zone 60 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide, and in southern Alborz province, the annual rate of subsidence is 37 centimeters.”
He added that the entire city of Isfahan is situated within a subsidence zone, and this phenomenon is expanding every day.
Subsidence in Historical Sites
Beitollahi pointed to subsidence in Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Square, the city’s old mosques, Persepolis, and the Naqsh-e Rostam site, stating: “The images of subsidence at Naqsh-e Rostam are not accurate, but our inspections show that subsidence cracks exist in this location.”
He expressed regret that no organization is taking responsibility for the subsidence, adding that historical landmarks and important buildings in major cities and subsidence zones require special repairs. However, the seventh development plan of the country does not include preventive measures to mitigate the risks of this phenomenon.
This geologist stressed that enforceable regulations are necessary to combat land subsidence, but such laws have not yet been issued.
According to Beitollahi, due to the lack of serious attention to the issue of subsidence, it only garners attention when the damage to historical sites becomes visible and is reported in the media.
In Iran, Persepolis and other ancient structures around it, such as Naqsh-e Rostam, have faced land subsidence for years.
Maryam Dehghani, a faculty member at Shiraz University, stated on October 18 that subsidence is occurring 300 to 500 meters from Persepolis and 10 meters from Naqsh-e Rostam, and the large cracks caused by the subsidence in these areas are fully visible.
Land Subsidence in Iran
Iran has one of the highest rates of land subsidence in the world, and in some areas where underground water reservoirs have fully collapsed, the damage may be irreversible.
One of the main reasons for Iran’s high rate of subsidence is the excessive extraction of groundwater. Experts say that Iran’s thousand-year-old groundwater reserves have been depleted in the last three decades.
Land subsidence also affects infrastructure such as airports, roads, and railways.
According to researchers, the unsustainable extraction of groundwater will push nearly 90 million people in the country into a water crisis.
In late September, The Guardian reported that Iran had reached a critical point due to groundwater depletion, citing satellite images that show large cracks and sinkholes forming, with widespread areas sinking at a rate of more than 10 centimeters per year.
A subsidence rate higher than four millimeters per year signifies a critical point, but in Iran, the subsidence rate is now being reported in centimeters instead of millimeters.
