A Lebanese newspaper revealed that the ownership of thousands of real estate properties in Damascus have been illegally transferred from their original owners to foreigners loyal to Iran. It added that Iran is exploiting the absence of the owners of those properties.
Al-Modon newspaper quoted a source at the real estate registry in Damascus as saying that since 2015, the ownership of more than 8,000 real estate properties in Damascus and its suburbs have been transferred from Syrians to foreigners who were brought by Iran to Syria.
The newspaper added that the property transfers are being carried out under the full supervision of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus and with the help of local collaborators. Those collaborators tamper with the real estate records to make the transfer look like legal waiver of property in which the new owner is given a deed of ownership stamped with the stamp of the land register and the signature of former Minister of Housing Hussein Arnous or his deputy.
According to Al-Modon, Arnous, who is closely tied with Iranian intelligence, helped Iran seize large areas of agricultural land belonging to Syrians who have left Syria over the past years. The majority of these land plots are located around the districts of Deir Qanoon, Zabadani, Qura al-Assad, Yafour, and Saboura.
Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Javad Turk-Abadi and his entourage have access to facilitation from the regime’s intelligence for the purchases and transfer of property, the report added. They are also buying even destroyed properties in return for more than double the real price.
The Syrian Coalition’s Legal Committee has already sent several memos to the United Nations and the Security Council on the forced displacement and demographic change operations being carried out by the Assad regime and its Iranian ally. It stressed that the Assad regime and its allies are putting the Syrian people under a tragic and catastrophic situation threatening Syria’s future and unity.
The transferred property varied between residential homes, shops, hotels, private land plots, agricultural land located in strategic areas, in addition to some small factories, the newspaper said.
The newspaper went on to say that the transfer of property is mainly taking place in the districts of al-Mazzah, al-Maliki, and Baghdad Street as well as in Old Damascus and some buildings and shops surrounding the Iranian cultural center in al-Bahsa district. The district was transformed into a security and military complex and center for meetings by the Iranians following the outbreak of the Syrian revolution.
The newspaper pointed out that the majority of transferred properties belong to Syrians who fled the country, mostly because they are wanted for the regime. It added that the names of those owners were often circulated by intelligence branches in response to their dissident activities and opposition to the regime.
The Syrian Coalition said that the demographic change taking place is Iran’s new weapon to establish a permanent foothold in Syria and help rehabilitate the Assad regime. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
