[MSN] World Heritage Committee to decide about 3 Iranian monuments.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

World Heritage Committee to decide about 3 Iranian monuments Tehran, July
10, IRNA 
Iran-Heritage-Monuments 

During the 30th World Heritage Committee meeting (July 8-16) currently
underway in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, the issue of three Iranian
ancient monuments will be discussed and necessary decisions will be made. 

The UNESCO convention of 1973 including 178 member countries is one of the
most extensive international conventions drawn up for the sake of protection
of the world natural and cultural heritage. 

The World Heritage Committee is in charge of executive affairs of the
convention and 21 countries are its members for six years. 

Registration of Bisotoun monument in the world heritage list, Isfahan's
Naqsh-e Jahan (Imam) Square and the project on adjustment of the height of
Jahan-Nama high-rise tower as well as the historical Bam Citadel and its
current situation are among the issues to be discussed on the sidelines of
the meeting. 

Objections have been raised by UNESCO as well as Iranian cultural and
historical bodies to Jahan-Nama Tower, which has been under construction in
the historical part of the capital city of Isfahan since 1996 due to its
unusually soaring height overshadowing the view of the historical texture of
this ancient land. 

The 48-meter-high Jahan-Nama high-rise tower is under construction in the
vicinity of the historical Darvazeh Dowlat Square on Isfahan's Charbagh Ave.
and Imam Square in an area measuring 16,000 square meters. 

Imam Square in Isfahan was registered in the world heritage list by UNESCO
on May 9, 1979. 

Besides, Bisotoun in the western Kermanshah province will be registered in
the world heritage list as Iran's eighth historical monument if the World
Heritage Committee approves such registration. 

Its dossier is currently on the agenda of the World Heritage Committee
meeting in Lithuania and votes will be taken on it. 

Based on the decision of the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, only one
monument from each country is annually registered in the world heritage
list. 

The historical Bam Citadel, which has been registered in the world heritage
list as a valuable Iranian monument, was hit by quake in 2003. 

Seven historical monuments from Irn including Persepolis, Chogha-Zanbil,
Takht-e Soleyman, Pasargad, Soltaniyeh, Bam Citadel and Imam Square in
Isfahan have been so far registered in the world heritage list.