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As any landscape architect knows, parks are good for more than recreation. They can help control floods, prevent sewers from overflowing, and aid in the revival of neighborhoods. In Tehran, Iranian officials may have discovered a new use for parks—to hide a site’s nuclear history from international inspectors.
Jeffrey Lewis at Arms Control Wonk tells the story of Lavisan-Shian, a site in Tehran that some people believe may have been involved in Iranian efforts to produce nuclear weapons—a claim Iran disputes. The truth remains a mystery because before inspectors could sample soils here, the suspect buildings were knocked down and the site was scraped clean and redeveloped as a park. Today, the site is known as Kowsar Park and has promenades planted with flowers and a skating area. Lewis provides more aerial imagery and photos on his blog.
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