The state-run newspaper Shargh published a report on the sharp rise in grave prices in Mashhad, writing that residents of the city are burying their deceased in nearby villages because they cannot afford the soaring costs.
In its report titled “Class-based Death,” published on Sunday, November 2, the Tehran-based daily wrote that the price of graves inside the shrine of the eighth Shiite Imam—administered by Astan Quds Razavi, one of the richest religious and economic institutions in Iran—is “in the billions of rials,” while in the “Behesht Reza” cemetery, managed by Mashhad Municipality, prices are “skyrocketing.”
Shargh added: “These astronomical figures, along with the poor economic situation, have forced many people to turn to village cemeteries to bury their loved ones so they would not have to pay exorbitant sums.”
According to the newspaper’s investigation, grave prices in cemeteries managed by Mashhad Municipality range from 60 million to 18 billion rials (approximately $52 to $15,652).
The monthly salary of a worker with two children is about $130.
Graves in cemeteries managed by Astan Quds Razavi are even more expensive, ranging from 1 billion to 12 billion rials (approximately $870 to $10,435).
Shargh quoted a resident of a nearby village as saying that the influx of Mashhad residents burying their dead in rural cemeteries has caused a shortage of burial space for local villagers themselves.
Hassan, another resident of a village near Mashhad, confirmed these remarks and described the “migration of the dead to village cemeteries,” saying: “Our village is very small and has a local cemetery. Recently, outsiders have been bringing their deceased here at night to bury them. We fenced off the cemetery, but it kept happening. Together with the village head, we decided to stop this at any cost and are following up on the matter.”
The expanding cemetery crisis in Iran
In recent years, numerous reports have emerged about the shortage and rising cost of graves across Iran.
In May 2025, Mehdi Pirhadi, head of the Urban Services Commission of Tehran’s City Council, warned that due to delays in constructing a new cemetery and the nearing full capacity of Behesht Zahra—the capital’s largest cemetery—there would be no burial space left in Tehran starting in October 2025.
Pirhadi stated that if the decision on the construction of a new cemetery in Tehran was not finalized by the end of that month, there would be no burial space available from the beginning of autumn, as only a few limited plots remain in Behesht Zahra.
According to him, in 2024, members of Tehran’s City Council had designated five potential sites for a new cemetery, and construction in southern Tehran was scheduled to begin in March 2025.
Based on a May 2024 resolution of Tehran’s City Council, the price of a “reserved grave” in Behesht Zahra for families with a deceased member increased from 39 million rials in 2023 to 150 million rials in 2024.
