Regarding the plan to develop the holy shrine of Shah-Cheragh its custodians have promised not to demolish historical homes within the old texture at the expense of expanding the holy site, Vice-President and Chairman of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) Masoud Soltanifar stated.
During a visit to Shiraz, Soltanifar and Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri met with Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Mohammad Dastgheib, custodian of the holy site, ILNA reported.
In the course of the sessions, Ayatollah Dastgheib was” very serious on the issue of preserving the historical sites” in Shiraz, and the plan can now be formulated to expand the holy site while preserving the old textures, the official said.
Rumors have spread that certain houses have been earmarked for destruction. The official said he was not aware of the rumors or their sources.
Not too distant in the past, the humble alleys in the famous suburbs of Shiraz and several houses faced an upheaval when some buildings of high historical value, were bulldozed and annihilated.
Those involved in the demolition, especially in the ancient Shah-Cheragh district, had even gone so far as to pick up fights with the locals who dared to oppose their allegedly unlawful actions, according to ISNA.
Meetings held by relevant officials to take stock of the critical situation in hopes to initiate ‘damage control’ were of no avail. The only fact that was revealed after the meetings was that the plan for expanding old textures in Shiraz lacks official permit. In other words, demolitions should cease.
In a press briefing, Governor General Seyyed Muhammad Ahmadi stated that he holds the principal cultural organization responsible saying that “the ICHHTO did not want allocate funds to purchase the historical homes and thus prevent the disaster from happening” yet he urged the organization to take immediate action.
