HYDERABAD: “We have less hope from the government, be it State or Central when it comes to heritage conservation in the city,” Mohammad Haghbin Ghomi, Consul-General of Iran, said when asked about the Consulate’s non-involvement in the city’s heritage issues, despite having rich cultural ties with it.

Around a decade back, when the restoration work for the Qutub Shahi Tombs was being decided, the Iranian government had expressed their interest in taking up the work. According to reports, the deal had taken a good shape, and even a MoU was signed but at the end it was scraped for unknown reasons.
“After the announcement of restoration works, the Consulate had approached the government for the same, but there was no response. We cannot do any work on our own,” Ghomi said.

The city was established by the Qutub Shahi kings -- who were Shias -- on the line of Isfahan, a city in Iran. There are still many commonalities between Hyderabad and Isfahan city in terms of history, heritage, culture and Islamic architecture.

“Whatever restoration you are speaking about, majority would be Islamic heritage. So in that we believe, there is a less interest in the government. We do not hope that in the near future the situation would be be better,” Ghomi added.