Masoumeh Ebtekar Calls Wakf Registration of Part of Mount Damavand Illegal

The news of wakf registration of part of Mount Damavand has faced significant reactions, with Ebtekar saying this action is not legally possible. It is reported that Mount Damavand has been divided into 11 sections, and a wakf deed has been issued for one section in the name of the State Organization of Endowments.

A few days ago, Iranian media reported the issuance of a court ruling to transfer 5,600 hectares of “Agh Mashad” forests in Sari to an individual as wakf, which surprised the Organization of Forests, Rangelands and Watersheds as the custodian of natural resources and led to protests from nature lovers.

The online version of Hamshahri newspaper on Sunday, the 5th of Mordad, reported another incident that appears far more surprising: the issuance of a wakf deed for part of Mount Damavand in the name of the State Organization of Endowments. The Organization of Endowments issued a statement on Sunday evening denying the news.

According to this report, the Organization of Natural Resources has been attempting to locate and register Mount Damavand by presenting a map of 11 plots from the peak to the mountainside lands. Deeds have been issued for 10 plots as natural national heritage, but there has been a dispute with the State Organization of Endowments over one plot.

Apparently, the Organization of Endowments, by presenting a document, sought to obtain the Supreme Court’s ruling in its favor and register one plot of Mount Damavand as wakf.

Masoumeh Ebtekar, former head of the Department of Environment Protection, says Mount Damavand, with an area of approximately 2,950 hectares, was registered as a “natural national heritage” in 2002 and became part of the areas managed by this organization.

Damavand with the Highest Protection Status

The Vice President for Women and Family Affairs wrote in a tweet: “Natural national heritage is the highest conservation status that, according to law, has no possibility of transfer or exploitation.”

The dispute between the Organization of Forests and Rangelands and the Organization of Endowments over part of Mount Damavand has a history of about ten years. The Organization of Forests declared this area’s use as national property, on the basis of which any interference is prohibited, but the Organization of Endowments, by filing a complaint, managed to obtain a deed for it as endowment land.

The news of wakf registration of part of Damavand had wide coverage on social networks, and Twitter users reacted to the hashtag “Damavand is not wakf.”

Organization of Endowments: The Wakf Land is Part of a Rangeland

According to the Iran News Agency (IRNA), the Organization of Endowments and Charities issued a statement on Sunday evening denying the registration of a deed for part of Mount Damavand and called the news “a clear manifestation of public alarm-mongering.”

The statement said: “Mount Damavand is among Anfal lands and logically, according to the jurisprudential rule ‘there is no wakf except in owned property,’ it lacks the capacity for ownership and consequently wakf registration. Publishing this news is a clear example of public alarm-mongering, which is typically fueled by counter-revolutionary media with such false reports.”

The Organization of Endowments stated in response to the news that the wakf land is not part of Mount Damavand itself, but part of a rangeland.

Contrary to this claim, the news of wakf registration of part of Damavand, after widespread publication in domestic media, was also published abroad. The Organization of Endowments, meanwhile, acknowledged that the mentioned deed relates to the wakf of the village and rangelands of Mellar “in the vicinity of Mount Damavand and in no way includes Mount Damavand itself.”

Mount Damavand is the highest mountain in Iran and is located in the central section of the Alborz mountain range south of the Caspian Sea. Damavand became Iran’s first natural heritage in the list of national monuments in 2008.

This volcanic mountain has an elevation of approximately 5,610 meters at its highest peak and has been repeatedly mentioned in Iranian mythology and in ancient legends as the place where the demon Zahhak was bound.

Source: DW