{"id":159754,"date":"2025-10-19T18:26:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T14:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/?p=159754"},"modified":"2025-10-19T18:26:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T14:56:30","slug":"no-registered-historical-site-in-iran-remained-untouched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/?p=159754","title":{"rendered":"No Registered Historical Site in Iran Remained Untouched"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran is home to nearly 20,000 nationally registered historical sites and cemeteries, yet none have remained intact from looters and illegal excavators.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The problem of illegal digging and antiquities trafficking has long been a major concern for the country\u2019s cultural heritage authorities. Recently, the Minister of Cultural Heritage, in collaboration with FARAJA (Iran\u2019s Law Enforcement), announced joint efforts to protect historical sites. Despite these measures, widespread looting and unauthorized excavations continue at an alarming rate.<\/p>\n

Abdolreza Mohajerinejad, archaeologist and former Cultural Heritage official, noted that even though thousands of sites are officially registered, none have escaped the impact of traffickers and illicit diggers.<\/p>\n

He added that illegal excavations remain a significant challenge, consuming considerable national resources. Mohajerinejad also highlighted that the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit was created without proper research or knowledge of archaeological sites and historical structures. In the 1990s, the unit recruited 3,000 personnel who lacked formal training and organizational roles, leaving them unprepared to effectively safeguard Iran\u2019s cultural legacy.<\/p>\n

He explained that the Deputy Minister of Cultural Heritage recently announced plans to add 1,000 more personnel to the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit. However, before the Revolution, each province had roughly 10 gendarmerie officers, and widespread illegal excavations were far less common.<\/p>\n

Mohajerinejad pointed out that the imbalance within the Ministry of Cultural Heritage is greater than in any other sector, as the ministry\u2019s structure has never been fully specialized. As a result, the 3,000 personnel of the Protection Unit lack adequate logistical support, and many have had their positions altered over time.<\/p>\n

He also noted that these forces have effectively taken over the roles once played by cultural heritage associations. Local community organizations, which historically were deeply committed to preserving historical sites, have largely been sidelined and rendered ineffective due to the expansion of the Protection Unit.<\/p>\n

The archaeologist stressed that Iran has 19,727 registered historical sites, mounds, and cemeteries\u2014but it is difficult to find a single one that remains intact. He called this a \u201cdisaster.\u201d Furthermore, of the 14,956 registered historical structures, only about 10 percent lack restoration plans, yet work is being carried out on many without proper oversight. For instance, restoration projects in Isfahan must be reviewed locally and approved in Tehran. Mohajerinejad attributes these failures to administrators who lack expertise in cultural heritage governance, emphasizing that a competent senior manager is one who appoints deputies with a deeper technical understanding of the field than their own.<\/p>\n

The former director of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage shared an example from Hasanabad Castle in Sanandaj, where a deputy in the Cultural Heritage office carried out a two-meter excavation without authorization. While claiming to be \u201cinvestigating,\u201d he actually destroyed valuable historical layers\u2014and later became the director of a World Heritage site. \u201cThis illustrates the kinds of challenges we face,\u201d Mohajerinejad noted.<\/p>\n

He added that during work in Galikesh amid the Jiroft events, it was evident that every three kilometers between Galikesh and Shahroud contained archaeological workshops where glass artifacts had been illicitly excavated. He contrasted this with Germany during the World Wars, where museum objects were temporarily removed for safekeeping and returned after the conflict\u2014practices not followed in Iran.<\/p>\n

Mohajerinejad emphasized that Iran has experienced repeated waves of historical vandalism, dating back to Alexander\u2019s invasion, resulting in significant losses to the country\u2019s cultural structures and heritage.<\/p>\n

To address both state-led and public vandalism of historical sites, he argued for a thorough review of cultural heritage laws and regulations. Key measures should include strengthening the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit with proper training, appointing skilled managers at all levels, launching public awareness campaigns, producing educational and documentary materials, coordinating heritage sites with environmental and natural resource authorities, reviewing budgets, and enhancing collaboration between the Ministry and heritage associations and stakeholders. These steps, he stressed, are essential to preserving Iran\u2019s historical legacy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran is home to nearly 20,000 nationally registered historical sites and cemeteries, yet none have remained intact from looters and illegal excavators. The problem of illegal digging and antiquities trafficking has long been a major concern for the country\u2019s cultural heritage authorities. Recently, the Minister of Cultural Heritage, in collaboration with FARAJA (Iran\u2019s Law Enforcement), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":159755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1260],"class_list":["post-159754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-zoroastrians","tag-historical-site"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=159754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/159755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=159754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=159754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.amordadnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=159754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}