The price of graves in the religious city of Mashhad in the northeast has surged to billions of rials, forcing families to bury their dead in nearby villages, according to a report published by the reformist daily Shargh on Sunday.
In Mashhad, the report said, grave prices have reached record levels. Plots in municipal cemeteries range from sixty million rials (about $55) in public sections to more than 18 billion rials (around $16,700) for private family plots.
Mashhad is home to the burial site of the eighth Shia Imam.
In cemeteries near or inside the shrine itself, graves cost between 1 billion and 14 billion rials (roughly $925 to $12,950) depending on the location.
Iran's state-run Supreme Labor Council has set the base salary at roughly 104.4 million rials. At current market rates at about 1,080,000 rials per dollar, that monthly wage is worth about $95–$110 depending on benefits, compared with about $238–$300 in 2016.
The exorbitant prices have driven many urban families to seek cheaper grave options in rural areas, the report said.
“City people have filled our village cemetery,” said Fatemeh, a resident of a village near Mashhad. “They bury their dead here because it’s free, but now we no longer have space for our own.”
Residents in neighboring villages also said outsiders bring bodies at night to avoid restrictions, prompting local officials to consider fencing off village cemeteries.
Families interviewed by Shargh described how the rising costs have turned burials into a display of social status. One woman said her family spent nearly 20 billion rials (about $18,500) to honor her grandmother’s wish to be buried near the shrine.
“We had to sell everything to fulfill her will,” she said.
Another mourner said she faced criticism for burying her father outside the shrine: “It’s become a matter of prestige – people boast about where their dead are buried.”
National trend: the business of death
Across Iran, burial prices have become a nationwide controversy. In Tehran’s main cemetery, some family plots sell for several billion rials, while officials insist prices follow city council regulations. Reports have also surfaced of an underground grave mafia profiting from limited space in older cemeteries in Shiraz and Isfahan.
Tehran’s city council recently confirmed that a three-tier grave costs about 330 million rials (around $305), with the first burial officially free and the next two layers reserved for relatives. The policy, however, has fueled confusion and criticism online.
The municipalities in cooperation with the ministry of health drafted new regulations last June to improve standards in cemeteries. However, there are still no laws defining or limiting grave prices.
“There is no law regarding the price of graves, and the only limits are those approved by the city council,” Marzieh Mohebbi, a legal expert, told Shargh.
Under Iranian law, she added, pre-purchasing a grave is considered the sale of a right of use – “something similar to a permanent lease” – and cannot be transferred to another person.
Behzad Parsa, head of Tehran Regional Water Company, told IRNA that the Amir Kabir Dam now holds just 14 million cubic meters of water -- only 8% of its capacity, down from 86 million cubic meters a year ago.
He said water inflow to Tehran’s dams has fallen 43% from last year due to a “100% drop in rainfall” compared to long-term averages.
Parsa urged residents to cut consumption, warning that without “urgent conservation and changes in usage patterns,” the city could face serious challenges in providing safe drinking water to millions of people.
Iran’s deepening water crisis has reached a critical point in Isfahan, where officials warn the city could run out of drinking water within weeks.
Once sustained by the Zayandehrud River, the city now faces near-empty reservoirs and severe groundwater depletion after years of drought, mismanagement, and unchecked extraction.
The crisis reflects a broader national emergency: rainfall has dropped up to 45% below seasonal averages, and 19 major dams are below 20% of capacity.
The outlet said the 2024 summer was “the driest season in twenty years,” turning rivers into “lifeless channels” and leaving many wetlands -- including Lake Urmia, Bakhtegan, Gavkhouni, and Hamoun -- either completely dry or severely depleted.
Official data from the Ministry of Energy cited by Tasnim showed that the country received 36 millimeters less rain than usual, with all nine major watersheds recording significant drops in precipitation. Southern provinces such as Sistan-Baluchestan, Hormozgan, and Bushehr saw rainfall decline by as much as 90%.
Water reservoir levels have also plummeted. Total storage in Iran’s dams has fallen to 39 billion cubic meters, about 15% lower than last year, while more than 60% of major dams are operating below half capacity, the report said.
Environmental authorities warned that wetlands across the country are on the brink of collapse due to a combination of drought, overextraction of groundwater, and mismanagement of water resources.
Experts quoted in the report said Iran’s worsening water crisis is no longer a temporary drought but a structural challenge caused by decades of poor management, overuse of groundwater, and unchecked dam construction.
They urged a shift in water governance and consumption patterns, warning that without urgent reforms, “Iran will sink deeper into a permanent state of water scarcity.”
Ghalibaf said any foreign platform seeking to operate in Iran must comply with domestic laws and regulations set by the Supreme Council of Cyberspace.
“If a platform does not accept internal regulations, it will not receive a license,” he told parliament after a lawmaker said the administration of President Masoud Pezeshkian had signed an agreement with Telegram that had yet to be reviewed by the council.
Under existing policy, a nine-member committee oversees whether foreign platforms adhere to Iranian cyber regulations, including cooperation with judicial authorities and removal of content deemed threatening to national security or public morals.
The reports of a Telegram deal surfaced after the Mehr news agency said Tehran had outlined conditions for lifting the app’s years-long ban, including blocking posts that incite ethnic tensions and assisting the judiciary with user data requests.
Telegram, which has been blocked since 2018 following anti-government protests, remains widely used through virtual private networks despite restrictions.
The alleged talks prompted criticism in parliament, where lawmakers warned that any agreement with Telegram must first be approved by the legislative body. One MP threatened to seek the impeachment of the communications minister if a deal were concluded without parliamentary consent.
Official data show point-to-point inflation nearing 50%, while food costs have surged far faster, underscoring what analysts describe as a severe stagflation gripping the country.
“If the Pezeshkian administration fails to calm economic tensions, Iran will face a major stagflation crisis,” said Morteza Afghah, an economist at Ahvaz University, quoted by the Khabar Online website.
Afghahsaid the crisis was the result of years of “right-wing economic policies” and warned that hundreds of thousands of Iranians no longer earn enough to cover basic nutrition. He urged the government to cut unnecessary spending and overhaul the tax system so that “large-scale earners shoulder the burden” instead of further squeezing low-income families.
The remarks came as Iranian media reported that food inflation and basic living costs have sharply outpaced general prices, with many middle- and working-class families now below the poverty line. Parliament’s Research Center previously estimated that 30% of Iranians lived in poverty; new assessments put that figure closer to 36%.
According to lawmaker Rahmatollah Norouzi, even workers earning 450 million rials (around $400 at today’s market rates) “live below the poverty line” if they rent their homes.
Official labor data show the base monthly wage is less than 110 million rials, rising to about 150 million with benefits (about $100 to $150) -- far below the estimated 230 million needed for basic subsistence, according to the Supreme Labor Council.
Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani recently said the poverty line per person stands at 60 million rials, prompting sharp criticism from unions and economists who called the figure “divorced from reality.”
Economic hardship has already taken a toll on health and education. The Health Ministry estimates poor nutrition contributes to about 35% of annual deaths in Iran, with tens of thousands dying each year from dietary deficiencies, including lack of fruits, grains, and essential fatty acids.
A report last week by Iran’s Statistical Center showed food inflation at nearly 64% -- a rate far higher than the overall 48% inflation estimate. Agricultural output has shrunk by more than 7% amid drought and a shortage of foreign currency for food imports.
Analysts say the situation risks worsening as renewed UN sanctions and a potential fuel price hike add further pressure.
