Head of Cultural Heritage Organization: We Have No Funds to Register Nima Yushij's House

The head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization stated that the organization lacks funds to register cultural sites such as Nima Yushij's house and to restore buildings considered national heritage. According to ISNA news agency, Ali Asghar Mounesan, the Vice President of Iran, said on Thursday, February 24: "We are under pressure from public opinion, which constantly demands to know why you do not restore this building or take care of that building and why you have not registered Nima's house. This is not a management failure. We have no money for these tasks." Recently, the condition of Nima Yushij's house, the father of modern Persian poetry, and its removal from the national heritage list has sparked numerous protests. A number of Iranian poets and writers criticized the performance of the Cultural Heritage Organization in a statement, stating that the building has now turned into a "ruin" and a "place for drug addicts." However, the head of Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization claimed that the problem does not lie with the organization. Mounesan added: "Buying Nima's house for preservation is not a task; we need to have money to buy this house, and we do not have money." He stated that the Cultural Heritage Organization, alongside the Environmental Protection Organization, has the least budget among government institutions, highlighting a significant gap between them and other agencies. Mounesan further noted: "We and the environment are at the bottom, and the gap is very large. This predicament exists. Even if there is money, it will be spent on the restoration and revival of historical buildings that are important to the people and have national discussions behind them." Previously, cultural heritage officials in Tehran announced that Nima Yushij's house in the Dezashib neighborhood of Tehran was removed from the national heritage list due to the lack of documents linking the house to Nima Yushij and complaints from the owners. However, protesting poets and writers argue that "sufficient documents and photographic evidence remaining from this house" prove that it was Nima Yushij's residence, and many locals and a large number of artists, writers, and poets testify to this. They have subsequently asked responsible authorities to purchase Nima Yushij's house for future cultural and artistic use.