The state-run Hamshahri newspaper reported on the buying and selling of graves in Iran.
The report says that 460 million tomans (approximately $2,300) is the price ceiling set by the Endowments and Charity Organization for graves for those who, after their death, are buried in cemeteries adjacent to shrines and the tombs of descendants of prominent religious figures in the capital. However, despite the price ceiling set for graves in these cemeteries, in many cases the prices remain only on paper, and the owners and heirs of graves make substantial financial gains from selling them. The profits from these transactions can sometimes equal the prices of luxury homes in the capital and can even reach billions of tomans.
Lower prices in the corners of cemeteries
Hamshahri adds that in Shahr-e Rey, south of Tehran, prices go as high as 600 to 700 million tomans (approximately $3,000 to $3,500), but most of these graves have already been sold and have owners. Graves in the more distant rows cost 400 to 500 million tomans (approximately $2,000 to $2,500), while in the farthest rows or corners of the cemetery, graves can also be found for 300 million tomans (approximately $1,500).
This year, the minimum wage for married workers with one child, including all benefits, is 249 million rials, equivalent to $124.
Inherited graves and their sale
Hamshahri’s reporter continues: We have barely left the cemetery when the voice of a middle-aged woman makes us stop: “Do you have a dead person to bury? I know someone whose grandfather’s grave was inherited by him and he wants to sell it. His grandfather died 60 years ago. You can coordinate with the cemetery office and also buy the second and third tiers, but for now there is only one tier.” Her description of the grave’s location is not unlike that of real estate brokers describing a property: “It’s in the front rows, it’s a corner grave, and you can easily come and go. It also gets good light, and you can visit your dead at night…” The inherited grave costs 100 million tomans (approximately $500) more than the prices I heard at the cemetery office.
Discounts for buying graves
At another cemetery in southern Tehran, a young man who guides grave buyers says: “There are three prices for graves: 260 million, 360 million, and 460 million tomans (approximately $1,300, $1,800, and $2,300). The prices are set by the Endowments Department, and graves in the rows closest to the shrine cost 460 million.” According to him, burying the dead at this shrine is not particularly popular, and it is mostly local residents and people who buried someone here years ago who are interested in buying these graves costing hundreds of millions of tomans.
A real estate agency for the dead
Online sales and classified-advertising websites are filled with listings for graves at various prices and in different locations across the city. Those who sell these graves know how to bargain, just like real estate agents, and they all know the prices of graves in other cemeteries as well. When the Hamshahri reporter asks one of them for an address, he gives the address of a real estate agent.
Grave prices vary depending on the cemetery’s location, public accessibility, and parking availability.
