A trade union official within Iran’s construction industry has suggested that the involvement of Chinese firms in housing construction is tied to the ongoing ‘oil clearing’ debate. According to him, the Chinese aim to secure Iranian oil at a lower cost by engaging in these activities.
These assertions come from the head of the country’s mass builders association, who mentioned, “Since the specifics of this arrangement have not been disclosed, I cannot draw a direct comparison or pinpoint what exactly attracted them.”
By disseminating these remarks attributed to Iraj Rahbar, the website ‘Khabar Online’ has shed some light on why the Iranian regime has sanctioned Chinese companies to participate in the construction sector.
This news outlet also cited housing market analysts who lamented, “Regrettably, despite the numerous slogans, no significant issues have been addressed, so relying on foreigners won’t resolve our problems either.”
Referring back to the inception of the narrative regarding Chinese involvement in housing construction, Khabar Online linked it to the autumn of 2021, coinciding with the commencement of government housing projects during the current regime’s administration. From that point until now, the narrative has evolved significantly.
This news agency references Hamidreza Saremi, Deputy Director of Urban Planning and Architecture at Tehran Municipality, who, in an interview with the ‘Donya-e Eghtesad’ newspaper published on January 31, discussed the ‘development of neighborhoods by Chinese private sector construction firms on a scale exceeding 1,000 units’ on ‘Brown’ lands or reserved lands in Tehran’s 9th to 16th districts.
Subsequently, Lotfollah Furuzandeh, deputy to Alireza Zakani, the mayor of Tehran, explained on February 14 the rationale behind engaging Chinese companies in Tehran’s construction, stating, “We have enlisted Chinese firms for housing construction in Tehran due to our lack of housing industrialization technology.”
Simultaneously, when the issue of Chinese involvement in Iran’s construction sector arose, the secretary of the Association of Mass Builders of Housing and Construction announced that China intends to relocate its prisoners to participate in Iran’s housing projects. Ramin Guran stated that Chinese inmates are dispatched to other countries to work for lower wages.
In response to these assertions, the regime’s Housing Minister declared on February 21, “We require financial resources more urgently than technology.”
Reports indicate that companies operating in China’s construction sector carry a debt exceeding $390 billion, posing significant risks to their presence in Iran.
Despite Ebrahim Raisi’s government inaugurating its tenure with the pledge of constructing one million housing units annually, more than two and a half years have passed without any major progress in this domain.
