Tehran Representative: Plasco Incident Was Predictable, Municipality Must Be Held Accountable

In response to criticisms of Tehran's municipality regarding the Plasco building fire, including criticism from several members of parliament, the fire department spokesperson denied reports of a lack of firefighting equipment. The Plasco incident has sparked significant criticism of the municipality's performance, with some social media users calling for the resignation of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran. Qalibaf's trip to Qom on the same day as the incident and the reported lack of firefighting equipment have been among the criticisms directed at the municipality. Some social media users have also pointed out that the municipality failed to take action on issues such as evacuating and renovating the Plasco building, preventing diesel storage in the building, and stopping the use of hallways as storage for clothing. Meanwhile, Parvaneh Mafi, a Tehran representative in parliament, stated that residents of the Plasco building had repeatedly reported that "the building is collapsing," but the municipality did not heed these warnings and must be held accountable for such an incident. According to the House of the Nation website, Mafi emphasized that the Plasco building, over 55 years old, should have been evacuated and "demolished," and such an incident was predictable. Fatemeh Zolghadr, another Tehran representative, also called for action against "potential offenders" related to this incident. Additionally, Sadegh Badri, spokesperson for the Parliament's Civil Commission, announced that there are many buildings similar to Plasco in Tehran and other provinces that lack necessary safety measures. He also noted that closing down dilapidated commercial centers has "social repercussions" and that existing laws regarding the municipality's authority to evacuate these complexes are "unclear." Some media outlets close to the Tehran municipality published images of letters indicating that the municipality had requested the owners of Plasco units to ensure the safety of their commercial units. In contrast, some websites reported that the last warning from the municipality was in 2014, and no further action had been taken since. Social media users have questioned why the municipality only issued warnings regarding Plasco while taking more decisive actions against street vendors and small shop closures. According to Iranian news agencies, the owner of the Plasco building is the Foundation of the Oppressed, an economic institution under the supervision of the Supreme Leader. The dilapidated state and lack of firefighting equipment have also been cited as major issues regarding the municipality's performance during the Plasco fire. Jalaal Maleki, spokesperson for the fire department, stated on Friday that Tehran's firefighting equipment is "among the most modern in the world." This statement comes despite some city council members acknowledging the lack of firefighting equipment. Meanwhile, ISNA reported that during a visit by Morteza Talai, the deputy chairman of the Tehran City Council, to the site of the Plasco fire, a firefighter protested about the outdated equipment. This firefighter, sitting behind a loader, told Talai, "Why are you just watching? Give us money to buy equipment; this equipment is from several years ago, and why do we have to write letters when we want money?" Talai remained silent in response to the firefighter's protest and later tweeted about it, saying, "I took his cry to heart! He was right, but he didn't know our pain." Some social media users have reminded that the Tehran municipality has separate revenues that could have been allocated for purchasing firefighting equipment. Talai ended his message with the hashtag "#Government_Speech," implicitly accusing the government of not allocating sufficient budget for firefighting equipment. Officials from Hassan Rouhani's government have not responded to this tweet. The Plasco commercial complex, which was about half a century old, was a clothing distribution center in Tehran and the first high-rise building in Iran built five decades ago. The Plasco building was constructed by Habibollah Alqaniyan, the owner of the "Plasco" plastics company, before the 1979 revolution. The Alqaniyan family established several factories and shopping centers in Iran over the decades. After the revolution, the Plasco building was seized by the Foundation of the Oppressed, and its builder, Alqaniyan, who was also the head of the Jewish Association of Tehran, was executed during the deadly events following the revolution.