residences in Tehran had better start renting them out or they will face government intervention. Nikzad did not give a deadline. But he said the government would start fixing the rent of unoccupied residences. And he threatened to prosecute anyone who owned more than two unoccupied residences. Asked how many unoccupied homes there are in the capital city, Nikzad he knew of 800,000—an astounding number that would be sufficient to house about 3 million people or 5 percent of the country’s population. By universal acclaim, one of the major problems facing Iran is a shortage of housing.
