Iranian Heritage in the State of Disrepair, and ICHTO Prepared to Fund Renovation of Damaged Iraqi Monuments

LONDON, 25 February 2006 (CAIS) -- While Iranian monuments are turning into cement, or the ancient cities being ploughed by farmers and in general the national heritage is in the state of disrepair and desperately in need of financial support to be salvaged, ICHTO (Iran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization) has declared its readiness to provide funds for the renovation of Iraqi monuments damaged during recent bombings (tombs of tenth and eleventh Shia Imams al-Hadi and al-Hassan al-Askari, were badly damaged in bomb attacks in Iraq on February 22), Taha Hashemi the cleric and director of the ICHTO Research Centre told the Persian service of CHN on Thursday.
Hashemi believes that Iranians' duty is to cooperate in the reconstruction process of the tombs, saying, “As Muslims, we must maintain our religious monuments, and to this end, the ICHTO plans to make use of all its facilities and experts”; whereas the authority's legion and their first duty as Iranians should have been with Iran and protecting Iranian heritage.
For the reconstruction of the ancient city of Bam, and current archaeological salvage operation in Tang-e Bolaghi, Iranians had to seek financial aid from foreign countries. As the result of the Sivand dam construction, the regime pose a great danger to the prehistoric and historical Iranian monuments in Fars province. The dam will submerge not only the Tang-e Bolaghi and Achaemenid Imperial Road, but also poses a grave danger to Pasargadae and Persepolis; -By creating an artificial lake which creates an excessive humidity in the region, it could have a devastating and irreversible effect on their structures. The extent of the damages are unknown and cannot be ascertained due to lack of funding.
Currently in Iran hundreds of archaeological and historical sites are in the state of disrepair, such as Sasanid Gondi-Shapour (right fig), Parthian Bardneshaned and Partho-Sasanind Ray, which could be lost forever as the result of negligence, surrounded factories, excessive framings and illegal excavations and nothing has been done to save them, again as the result of a lack of funding. It is quite ironic that if Iranian national heritage would have been called "Palestinian Heritage" or "Arab Heritage", without any doubt the regime and those who are in charge of ICHTO, would have being in the queue to sacrifice their lives in order to save and protect them. Therefore, the only plausible solution is to change the name of Iran to Palestine, and claim that Ancient Iranians were Palestinians, to protect Iran's national heritage from complete destruction.