UNESCO Joined the Unveiling Ceremony of the Newly Inscribed Cultural Heritage Items of Iran
On 22 May 2022 and during the National Cultural Heritage week, the Islamic Republic of Iran unveiled the World Registration Certificates of the three newly inscribed cultural heritage items namely: the “National Programme for Safeguarding of the Traditional Art of Calligraphy”, “Trans-Iranian Railway” and “Cultural Landscape of Hawraman/ Uramanat”, in Golestan Palace World Heritage Site.
Ms Afarin Emam, the Director of Golestan Palace opened the event and welcomed the guests.
Congratulating the Islamic Republic of Iran for the inscription of these three valuable items on the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, Ms Rosanna Giannandre, Officer-in-Charge of UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office, acknowledged the significant achievements of Iran in inscribing numerous Sites on the World Heritage List on the one hand, and elements, successful practices and intangible heritage on UNESCO Representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage on the other hand. Ms Giannandre also highlighted the efforts of the Iranian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts for its consistent investment in safeguarding the Iranian Cultural Heritage.
The event was followed by Iranian Dutar Navazi, screening documentary and video clips on Iran Cultural Heritage, and National Programme for Safeguarding of the Traditional Art of Calligraphy before unveiling the certificates.
Mr Zarei Kousha, the Governor of Kurdistan who also delivered a speech, reiterated the importance of both tangible and intangible heritage of Iran and specifically Kurdistan, and indicated the efforts that are being made for other potential inscriptions like Karaftu Cave in Kurdistan.
This important event was also attended by the Director of Iran’s Railway. Mr Salehi’s intervention highlighted the strong role of Trans-Iranian Railway with more than 100 years of service. He emphasized the role of the railway of Iran and the arising capacities considering the location of the country that facilitates the use of the railway as a transit corridor. He continued by stating the importance of the improvement of tourism after the decline it faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the significance of Trans-Iranian Railway to facilitate and develop tourism capacities. He mentioned that Iran is also making efforts for building a railway from Iran to Karbala in Iraq to further develop its railway capacities.
H.E. Ali Darabi, the Deputy Minister for Cultural Heritage, reiterated the importance of the event as an opportunity to showcase the achievements and capacities of Iran for inscribing more potential sites and elements on world heritage list. He accentuated that the registration process has also been beneficial in further preservation of the heritage in Iran by all the people. Mr Darabi also mentioned that with 26 tangible and 17 intangible inscribed world heritage items, Iran is among the first 9 countries of the world and has the capacity to even further advance in this regard. H. E. Mr Darabi, thanked the government and the parliament of Iran for the increased attention to the approved budget for the cultural heritage and called for further contributions and collaborations of all parties for using all capacities and preserving our cultural heritage.
It is worth mentioning that the former Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of the Islamic Republic of Iran to UNESCO, Dr Ahmad Jalali, who was among the participants of this event also emphasized the importance of the safeguarding and preserving our common heritage, making efforts for further inscriptions and supported the initiative for submission of chain files in parallel.