TEHRAN -- Ein Ol-doleh monument, one of Tehran's most ancient buildings, located at Mobarakabad, Pasdaran, is currently left unprotected and is on the verge of destruction.

The monument, which covers an area of 5,000 square meters, is the heritage of Ein Ol-Doleh, the chancellor and governor of Tehran during the Qajar dynasty.

The edifice has been registered by Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization as a historical monument and was constructed in 1280-90 AH on the order of Ein Ol-Doleh.

Toward the end of World War II, it was used to host the heads of allied forces, namely U.S. president Roosevelt, Soviet leader Stalin, and British premier Churchill. The talks were focused on making the final coordination against the German Nazi forces.

The said monument, which is among the nation's rarest superior cultural heritages to be located in the capital of Tehran, was listed as a national heritage on June 25, 1998 under registration no. 2042.

According to the cultural heritage declaration on registered monuments and sites, any damage inflicted on such buildings is a crime. Besides, construction within the precinct of registered monuments is banned. However, the precinct Ein Ol-Doleh monument has been violated by developers of high-rises.

According to documents, in 1996 the monument was purchased by Tehran Municipality from its owner Shirin Heravi, the daughter of D.

Heravi. The construction permit was issued by the municipality of district four in the same year.

The first measure taken toward its destruction occurred by cutting 1,000-old trees located in the monument's yard, despite objections by the people living in the neighborhood.

Once excavation of the site was about to get underway, the contractors of the project met harsh opposition by the people of the neighborhood, which resulted in the suspension of construction works in 1999.

Once the construction work was totally blocked as a consequence of a complain filed by Tehran Province's Cultural Heritage Department and the people residing in district four, the municipality was decreed to pay one billion rials for the restoration and reconstruction of the ancient monument.

Deputy Head of ICHO Preservation and Reconstruction Department Mohammad Hassan Mohebali told IRNA that Tehran Municipality is due to extend the budget required to protect the monument from collapsing.

"The purchase of Tehran's historical buildings and their restoration is currently on the mayor's agenda," he added.