Illegal Sale of Qeshm's Old Airport at '80,000 Tomans per Meter'

According to the head of the judiciary in Hormozgan province, a former manager of the Qeshm Free Zone has been arrested. The entire old airport of Qeshm, including the runway and control tower, has been illegally sold at one-tenth of its original price, at 80,000 tomans per meter. This news was first announced by Mohammad Sadegh Akbari, the head of the judiciary in Hormozgan province, during a press conference on the Judiciary Week held on Sunday, June 31. According to Mehr News Agency, this judicial official stated that the case is currently under review in the relevant branch, and several managers and individuals related to the case have been summoned for questioning and information gathering, during which one former manager of the Qeshm Free Zone was temporarily detained. Mr. Akbari mentioned that this case arose from ambiguities and complaints regarding the lands of the old Qeshm airport and financial violations in the province and is under further investigation. Previously, Shahryar Moshiri, the former CEO of the Qeshm Free Zone, had stated about the major violations in Qeshm: 'The entire Qeshm airport was sold at one-tenth of the price; because the lands were sold by the hectare, there was no mention of meters, several hectares of land were sold in 30-month installments at one-tenth of their market value.' Meanwhile, according to this former Qeshm manager, the old airport of this region is considered 'public property and part of the national assets' of a country according to 'Sharia and law.' Mr. Moshiri also commented on the sale price of the airport land, stating: 'The title deeds of the lands of neighbors living across the street from the airport show that at the same time, they sold their lands for between 800,000 to 1 million tomans; however, the airport land was sold at 80,000 tomans per meter, which is one-tenth of its actual price.' Based on information provided by the former CEO of the Qeshm Free Zone, 'the entire runway and control tower have been sold; while according to the privatization law, only the management of the airport can be transferred, not the entire airport itself.' According to this former Qeshm manager, the entire airport land has been sold, and a residential complex has been built on the runway, which has been completely destroyed.