Thirty paintings go missing from Tehran municipal museum

A member of Tehran’s City Council has revealed that 30 priceless paintings loaned from Imam Ali Religious Arts Museum have disappeared.

Nasser Amani has estimated the value of just one of the paintings at around 300 billion rials (approximately $500,000).

The announcement came during a session of Tehran's City Council, where Amani emphasized the council’s legal duty to oversee municipal assets. He revealed that the artworks were lent to an unidentified entity outside the municipality with official documentation, allegedly for an exhibition that never took place. Despite repeated inquiries, there has been no clear explanation or response from the authorities responsible.

“We’ve tried to follow up on this, but not only have we not received a report, but no one has provided a clear answer about where the valuable artworks are,” Amani said during the session. His comments reflect the frustration within Iran over the negligence and corruption that seems to plague the management of the country's cultural heritage.

This latest incident is part of a pattern involving the misappropriation of Iran’s historical and artistic treasures under the Islamic Republic. Earlier scandals include the theft of 48 handwoven carpets from the Sa’dabad Palace between 2013 and 2016. The carpets, considered national treasures, were reportedly moved to a private residence in a pickup truck, according to eyewitness accounts.

As more instances of missing or mishandled cultural assets emerge, critics argue that the Iranian government’s incompetence, corruption, and indifference are allowing the nation’s heritage to disappear.

Some have accused the government of deliberately neglecting cultural property, with suspicions that officials might be profiting from the "disappearances" through illicit sales on the black market.

The lack of transparency in the handling of the assets further complicates matters. As in the case of the Imam Ali Religious Arts Museum, government officials remain tight-lipped, providing little to no explanation for the missing artworks.

The latest scandal comes at a time when Iran’s cultural institutions are already under immense strain. Years of economic sanctions, political instability, and internal mismanagement have left many of the country’s museums and historical sites in disrepair.

Earlier this year, Iran International published a leaked letter obtained by the hacking group Black Reward, revealing that gold coins confiscated by the government following the 1979 Revolution from Imam Sadiq University are still unaccounted for.

While the Iranian government continues to tout its economic and military initiatives, many argue that it has neglected its responsibility to safeguard the nation’s cultural and historical heritage.

Cultural activists are now demanding an investigation into the missing paintings and a full accounting of Iran’s lost cultural treasures.