Tehran`s Qolhak Garden should be reappropriated from UK Embassy, Iranian MPs say

TEHRAN, Nov. 14 (MNA) -- Majlis National Security Subcommittee called for the case of the British Embassy’s expropriation of the Qolhak Garden to be seriously investigated, Iranian MP Hossein Sobhaninia said on Sunday. The British ambassador’s residence is located in the Qolhak Garden. Sobhaninia, who is a member of the Majlis National Security Subcommittee, said that that the issue was discussed during a session of the subcommittee on Sunday. The subcommittee decided that the issue should be vigorously investigated so that the Qolhak Garden can be reappropriated, he added. Sobhaninia also said that Brigadier General Mir Faisal Baqerzadeh, who is also the director of the Foundation for the Preservation and Publication of Sacred Defense Works and Values, read out a report at the session about the measures that have been taken to reacquire the land. He went on to say that the subcommittee explored ways to reappropriate the land. During the session, it was agreed that the National Security Subcommittee would seriously pursue the matter. According to Sobhaninia, Baqerzadeh’s report said that Britain has no document or evidence showing that it owns the Qolhak Garden and whatever document it has lacks authenticity. According to the Mehr News Agency, the land was given to the British ambassador to Tehran during the reign of Nasereddin Shah Qajar to use as his summer residence, and, in a letter, it had been stated that the land belongs to the Iranian government. Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on October 31 that the case of the British Embassy’s expropriation of the Qolhak Garden will be referred to the Judiciary. He also said that the fact that over 300 trees in the garden have been destroyed cannot be overlooked, adding, “I will instruct my colleagues at the Tehran Municipality to report the case of the British Embassy’s violations committed in the Qolhak Garden to the Judiciary as soon as possible.”