Iran’s current capital is experiencing a number of issues, such as heavy traffic and a sinking soil surface. As a radical measure, Iran is thinking about transferring it to a completely other area on the Gulf of Oman.
Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the concept of transferring the capital has come up several times, but the enormous logistical and financial obstacles have caused the ideas to be continually shelved as unfeasible.
However, reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who came to power in July, has recently brought the idea back to life, pointing to Tehran’s mounting difficulties.
These include traffic snarls, water shortages, resource mismanagement, extreme air pollution, as well as subsidence — the gradual sinking of land mass due to either natural processes or human activity.
In January, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said the authorities were studying the possible relocation.
“The Makran region is being seriously considered,” she said, without specifying a timeline.
Makran is a largely undeveloped coastal area on the Gulf of Oman, stretching across Iran’s southern, impoverished Sistan-Baluchistan province and part of neighbouring Hormozgan province. It has repeatedly been touted as a frontrunner for the move.
“The ‘lost paradise’ of Makran must be transformed into the future economic hub of Iran and the region,” said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a Sunday speech.
“We have no choice but to move the economic and political center of the country to the south and near the sea,” Pezeshkian stated in September.
The issues that Tehran was facing had “only gotten worse with the continuation of existing policies.”
