Soaring burial costs push Iranians to rural graveyards, daily reports

Soaring Burial Costs Push Iranians to Rural Graveyards

The price of graves in the religious city of Mashhad in northeast Iran has surged to billions of rials, forcing families to bury their deceased in nearby villages, according to a report from the reformist daily Shargh.

Record High Grave Prices in Mashhad

Grave prices in Mashhad have reached unprecedented levels. Plots in municipal cemeteries range from sixty million rials (about $55) in public sections to over 18 billion rials (around $16,700) for private family plots.

Mashhad is home to the burial site of the eighth Shia Imam. Graves near or inside the shrine cost between 1 billion and 14 billion rials (roughly $925 to $12,950), depending on their location.

Economic Context

Iran’s state-run Supreme Labor Council has set the base salary at about 104.4 million rials. At current market rates of approximately 1,080,000 rials per dollar, this translates to about $95–$110 per month, compared to $238–$300 in 2016.

Impact on Rural Cemeteries

The steep cost has led many urban families to seek more affordable burial options in rural areas.

[translate:“City people have filled our village cemetery,”] said Fatemeh, a resident of a village near Mashhad. [translate:“They bury their dead here because it’s free, but now we no longer have space for our own.”]

Residents of nearby villages reported that outsiders bring bodies at night to bypass restrictions, prompting local officials to contemplate fencing off village cemeteries.

Summary: Dramatic rises in grave prices in Mashhad force urban families to choose rural cemeteries, causing overcrowding and local tensions in villages around the city.

Would you like the summary to be more formal or conversational?

ایران اینترنشنال — 2025-11-03