Damavand Waqf; Southeast Ridge of the Peak Released

The deputy of Iran’s Land and Property Registration Organization says not even a single centimeter of the land on Damavand’s southeast ridge is waqf (endowment). “Eskan News” reports that although a section of the peak has been removed from waqf status, not all of Damavand has been freed, and disputes continue over two registered plots.

Sadegh Saadatian, deputy for property and cadastral affairs at Iran’s Land and Property Registration Organization, says that through the round-the-clock efforts of a special team, the land ownership document for Damavand’s southeast ridge has been issued in the name of the state, and not even a single centimeter of the area’s land is waqf. He announced the registration of the latest ridge of Damavand peak in the state’s name and told Misan News Agency: “Regarding the disputed section of registered plots 68 and 69, the matter is still under review and will certainly be preserved by court order.”

Simultaneously, Mohammad Darvish, environmental activist and expert, announced a “great victory” for Damavand enthusiasts and Iran regarding two registered plots in section seven of Larijan, writing on Instagram: “… Public demand and the power of national will caused this 2,377-hectare area to be issued in the name of the Organization of Forests, Rangelands and Watersheds of the country in the early morning hours of Wednesday, August 8th, so we can celebrate the beginning of the end of exploiting Iran under the guise of waqf. I personally thank all my countrymen who participated in this victory.”

The website of Hamshahri newspaper, which exposed the news of one-eleventh of Damavand being waqf, reports Damavand’s exit from waqf status, but “Eskan News” has announced that although a section of Damavand peak resulted from peaceful civil advocacy by the people and was removed from waqf, not all of Damavand has been freed.

The website writes that registered plots 68 and 69 have not been removed from waqf status: “At 12:30 last night and the first minutes of the morning of August 8th, 1399, the head of Amol Natural Resources Department, experts from the Mazandaran Provincial Directorate of Natural Resources, and officials from Reno Property Registration Office were present at the Reno registration office to resolve the issue in favor of national lands, but the disputed section, namely registered plots 68 and 69, have not been registered, and if advocacy continues, certainly other sections of this area will also be registered in the name of national lands by court order.”

“Public Unrest”

The Organization of Endowments called the news of Damavand waqf and declared the endowment of the aforementioned plots in the village and rangelands of Mellar in the year 1384 legal and confirmed. The spokesman of the Judiciary and the Organization of Endowments, aligned with each other, called these lands rangelands that had been issued in the name of Reza Shah Pahlavi ninety years ago but was invalidated due to complaints from ranchers, and they endowed the land: “… Because this endowment had come into Reza Shah Pahlavi’s possession, it returned to waqf status in court in the year 1323, and in the year 374 the waqf status of plots 68 and 69 of section 7 of Larijan was established.”

This is while the renowned arbitrator, the director general of the legal department of the Environmental Protection Organization, announced that the disputed boundary between the Forests Organization and the Endowments Organization is above 4,000 meters in altitude, and no authority has so far been able to obtain an ownership document for this area: “The issue of waqf on part of Damavand Mountain was raised when our colleagues in the Natural Resources Department of Mazandaran Province applied to the provincial registration office to prepare a cadastral map and obtain an ownership document, and discovered that two of the eleven plots in the Damavand area had problems in the field of waqf registration records.”

Namdar told “Hamshahri Online” that if the problem is not resolved within the framework of working groups of the Endowments and Forests Organization, the Environmental Protection Organization and the Forests Organization will resolve the issue through the judiciary.