Article 1 of the executive regulations of this law obliges the "Property Registration
Organization" to provide information in this regard and to publish the content of the
advertisement in the public information.6
According to media reports, a significant percentage of villagers are still unable to document
ownership and registration of their property. For example, according to a report published by
Young Journalists’ Club, affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) in July 2020,
30% of the villagers in Zanjan Province still do not have a title deed.7Moreover, according to
another report published by Sazandegi Newspaper on June 26, 2016, the residents of a village in
Kerman Province have been waiting for more than 10 years to receive property documentation
and register their ownership. 8
B. The Committee recommends the Islamic Republic of Iran take steps to prevent
arbitrary interpretations of article 49 of the Constitution, and to ensure that persons
affected by such confiscations have access to an adequate remedy, restitution of
their property, and compensation, as appropriate, including in line with the
Committee’s general comment No. 7 (1997) on forced evictions.
In 1979, a foundation was established to provide housing for the poor and low-income groups
called the Housing Foundation of the Islamic Revolution, responsible for many projects with a
significant role in this area till date.9 The foundation was initially set up to use the houses
confiscated in the beginning of the revolution in order to provide adequate housing for people
who needed it. These confiscations were not entirely legal, and many of these houses are still
being held by various institutions, violating the right of many citizens to own property.10
Article 49 of the Constitution was used by the revolutionary courts in the post-revolutionary
years to seize or confiscate the property of many officials and affiliates of the Pahlavi Dynasty
ousted by the revolution in 1979. In the early years after the adoption of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic, this article was implemented at the discretion of the revolutionary courts and
the prosecutors of the revolutionary courts throughout the country. Later, on August 8, 1984, the
law on the implementation of this principle was prepared and approved. 11The law sought to
regulate the application of this article and to clarify its examples. Nevertheless, the revolutionary
6
Article 1, The Regulation of implementation of the Law on Issuance of Land Ownership Documents subject to land reform in
the villages and cities covered (adopted on April 23, 1995): < https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/116054 >
7
“Issuance of title deed for 69% of rural housing units (in Zanjan)”: <https://www.yjc.ir/00V9vu >
8
“10 years of waiting for the people of one of the villages of Kerman province to receive property registration documents”:
<https://tn.ai/2302164 >
9
The Housing Foundation of the Islamic Revolution: <https://bonyadmaskan.ir/ >
10
ISNA news agency report, June 24, 2018: "The fate of post-revolutionary confiscations" <
https://www.isna.ir/news/97040300957/ >
11
The Law to Implementing Article 49 of the Constitution: <https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/90948 >
2