According to Ghodratollah Mohammadi, the CEO of the Tehran Fire Department and Municipal Services, “50 percent of the government buildings” in the capital do not have the organization’s approval.
On Thursday, January 11, in an interview on Tehran Radio and Television, Mohammadi stated that there are “75 high-risk buildings in terms of fire” in the metropolis that have not yet been secured.
He further mentioned that the number of these buildings has decreased from 129 to 75 in the past year and a half, and legal cases have been filed for these 75 buildings listed as high-risk.
After the Attorney General’s Office of Iran published a list of 129 “high-risk” buildings in Tehran despite the opposition of the municipality, a member of the Tehran City Council stated in June 2023 that the list included “very high-risk” buildings, and there are about 11,000 high-risk buildings in Tehran.
The member of the Tehran City Council also confirmed the existence of a “legal deficiency” in this regard and stated that now that the judiciary has intervened as the “public prosecutor,” the fate of unsafe buildings must be determined.
The issue of neglecting unsafe buildings in the capital has been raised for years, and after the Plasco Building fire incident, several lists of unsafe and at-risk structures in Tehran have been compiled, which have been the subject of controversy and debate regarding their publication and details.
In the same context, a member of the Tehran City Council reported that the government of regime president Ebrahim Raisi considered some firefighting budget items as “luxury goods” and eliminated them.
At the same time, Hamzeh Shakib, the head of the Iran Construction Engineering Organization (ICEO), stated that over 1,000 unsafe buildings with more than 12 stories in Tehran have been identified that are susceptible to fires.
Shakib stated in a press conference on July 24, 2023, that eight organizations, including ICEO, have identified these buildings, which “require special maintenance.”
Mehdi Babaei, the Chairman of the Safety and Crisis Committee of the Tehran City Council, stated in June 2023 to the semiofficial ILNA news agency that after issuing warnings to these buildings, the municipality should ask the judiciary to “cut off the building’s utilities and seal it.”
The head of ICEO also stated in his press conference: “Based on the lessons learned from the Plasco incident, we proposed providing the three-dimensional plans of these buildings to the fire department and analyzing the building’s collapse mechanism so that the fire department’s response and reaction can be improved during emergencies.”
However, he added that ICEO does not have oversight over government buildings and its focus is on private construction and structures.
Shakib also mentioned the lifespan of buildings in Iran, saying, “Currently, the average lifespan of buildings in Iran is between 30 to 40 years, while in the world, this number is between 75 to 100 years.”
He emphasized the recent devastating earthquakes, including the one in Kermanshah province, stating, “The reality is that if an earthquake occurs, governments no longer have the ability to compensate for the damages.”
The issue of neglecting unsafe buildings in the capital has been raised for years, and after the Plasco Building fire incident, several lists of unsafe and at-risk structures in Tehran have been compiled, which have been the subject of controversy and debate regarding their publication and details.
