A Member of Tehran City Council Says Construction in Laleh Park Has Been Canceled

Following protests and controversies over the cutting of trees in Laleh Park in Tehran for the construction of a prayer house and cultural center, a member of the city council said on Friday, June 15, to ILNA news agency, "It has been decided that no construction will take place in Laleh Park, and this issue has been completely canceled." In May of this year, after a container was set up around the perimeter of this park, several witnesses and residents reported that construction was likely to take place in this area and that trees would be cut down. At the same time, the Shargh news network reported that some Tehran citizens asked a service worker about the fencing and the container's presence, and they were told that the electricity in the area would be cut off that night and construction operations would begin. Citizens' inquiries from the park manager and the local municipality were met with the response that a cultural center was to be built in this part of the park, and trees in the area would be cut down. Mehdi Chamran stated, "After Ramadan, we felt that construction should take place in Laleh Park." However, ILNA news agency reported a few weeks after the news was published in the media and the protests it sparked, quoting Jafarbandi Sharbiani, a member of the urban planning commission of the Tehran City Council, that "the municipality has promised that there will be no construction in this area for now." Mehdi Abbasi, another member of the Tehran City Council, also told the news agency, "It has been decided that no construction will take place in Laleh Park, and this issue has been completely canceled." Following a gathering of citizens protesting the fencing in Laleh Park, the head of the Tehran City Council stated that this action was related to the plan for "building mosques and libraries" in all large parks in the city. Mehdi Chamran also mentioned regarding the issue of cutting trees in this park that "the plan must be presented to the council, and the relevant committee will review it, and if necessary, construction will take place provided that no trees are cut down." Mr. Chamran's statements about not cutting trees come at a time when the fenced area in Laleh Park is over three thousand square meters, and videos related to the fenced area showed that many large trees are located inside the fenced area. The news of cutting down a large number of trees in Laleh Park under the pretext of building a cultural center comes at a time when Tehran is one of the most polluted cities in the world, and the people of this city are visibly struggling with the challenge of air pollution in this metropolis. In addition to the criticisms of construction in Laleh Park, a controversial plan to build a mosque in Qeytarieh Park in Tehran has also raised severe criticisms against Alireza Zakani, the mayor of Tehran, in the media and virtual space in Iran. Mehdi Chamran also stated that "no trees will be cut down for the construction of this mosque in Qeytarieh Park, and anyone who cuts a tree should be brought to us, and we will cut off their leg." Mehdi Abbasi, a member of the Tehran City Council, also mentioned regarding construction in Qeytarieh Park that "it has been decided that a plan with a maximum area of 200 square meters in one floor will be presented to the architecture and urban planning commission of the council for review, and ultimately we will reach a specific conclusion based on that."