Iran's deputy housing minister, Gholamreza Kazemian Shirvan, used the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku this week to appeal for international assistance in rebuilding more than 150,000 homes damaged or destroyed since the outbreak of war in late February. Speaking to Euronews on the sidelines of the forum, Kazemian stressed the urgency of reconstruction efforts to allow displaced populations to return to normal life.
"Our priority is certainly to carry out reconstruction efforts as quickly as possible so that the people who were affected can return to their homes and resume their normal lives," Kazemian said. He added that Tehran hopes other nations will understand its reconstruction message and offer support.
Scale of Damage and Verification Challenges
The conflict, which began on 28 February after joint US and Israeli strikes on Iran, caused the heaviest structural damage in the provinces of Kermanshah, West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Ilam, and East Azerbaijan. According to Tehran Municipality, approximately 51,000 housing units were damaged in the capital alone, with around 40,000 sustaining minor damage. Reconstruction files for about 85% of those cases have reportedly been closed.
The Ministry of Roads and Urban Development's first official assessment, published at the end of March, indicated that roughly 45,000 residential and non-residential units across the country suffered damage that did not require demolition, while nearly 1,000 units were so severely damaged that they required complete demolition and reconstruction. However, Euronews could not independently verify the overall scale of damage due to multiple and contradictory figures from official bodies, non-governmental institutions, and eyewitnesses.
The ministry also noted that nationwide damage from the 40-day strikes prior to the ceasefire was nearly four times the level recorded after a shorter 12-day conflict in June 2025.
Pre-Existing Urban Pressures
Kazemian also outlined Iran's broader urban challenges that predate the war. Iran is among the world's most urbanised countries, with a population of around 90 million, of whom some 70 million live in cities. Tehran's metropolitan population exceeds 15 million. Rapid rural-to-urban migration has left many villages depopulated while concentrating pressure on urban infrastructure.
"We face challenges in areas such as water resources, climate change, and land subsidence," Kazemian said. "Necessary planning has been carried out for all of these issues, and we have identified ways to address and manage these challenges — whether in the field of earthquakes, land subsidence, or water shortages, which are among our main challenges."
Iran is also one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, with Tehran and several major cities sitting on active fault lines — a risk that compounds the housing shortage and complicates reconstruction planning. A subsidised housing programme launched under former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, known as Mehr Housing, aimed to provide affordable homes for low-income Iranians but has failed to resolve the crisis, particularly given persistent inflation and a rapidly growing young population.
The World Urban Forum in Baku, running from 17 to 22 May under the theme "Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities," has highlighted the global housing divide and the need for cross-border solutions. For more on this, see our coverage of how the forum underscores the urgency of international cooperation.
Kazemian's appeal comes as Iran's housing crisis deepens, with the war exacerbating long-standing vulnerabilities. The international community's response will be crucial in determining whether reconstruction can proceed swiftly enough to prevent further displacement and social strain.
