Prosecutor's Deadline for the IRGC to Halt Construction in Eshratabad

A manager at the Cultural Heritage Organization announced that by order of the investigator of Branch 3 of the Military Prosecutor's Office, the construction project at the IRGC's Vali Asr Barracks adjacent to the historical building of 'Eshratabad' must be halted by Sunday, July 14. According to ISNA, Vajiheh Qasemi, the public relations manager of the Cultural Heritage Organization of Tehran Province, stated on Saturday that a previous order to stop the project had already been issued to the IRGC, but 'over the past two weeks, work on this complex has been visibly ongoing, and no halt has occurred.' Ms. Qasemi indicated that if the project is not stopped, 'the military prosecutor will inevitably use the special forces of the NAJA (Law Enforcement Force) to enforce the stop order.' Meanwhile, ISNA's report noted that despite the previous military prosecutor's order, construction continues, suggesting that 'by giving this one-day opportunity, it seems this order is intended to be more serious than previous orders in the IRGC area and for the preservation of Eshratabad.' Despite the official opposition from members of the Tehran City Council, some senior municipal officials, and even the head of the Administrative Justice Court, the construction project within a 70-meter radius of the Eshratabad Palace, which began in September 2014, continues, with the metal skeleton of this structure having risen to 14 floors. On Saturday, Tehran Emergency Services reported that one of the construction cranes for this project had broken and fallen due to an incident. The IRGC officials have remained silent regarding the construction at this site. The Eshratabad Qajar-style building was registered as one of Iran's national heritage sites on April 12, 1967. The 'Qajar-style building' of Farahabad was constructed under the orders of Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar with Iranian architectural patterns in four floors. This building once served as the dormitory for Anis al-Dawlah, one of the wives of Naser al-Din Shah, and a large circular pool, supplied by a qanat, is located to the southeast of this building. However, after the fall of the Qajar dynasty and the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty, this garden and palace, along with the houses around the pool, were allocated for military use to the city police, hence it was named the 'City Police Barracks' or 'Eshratabad.' After the revolution, this barracks was confiscated by the IRGC and renamed 'Vali Asr Barracks.' An IRGC prison is located in this barracks, where several national-religious forces detained in 2000 were held.