Iran International
Experts are warning that mismanagement could threaten ancient Iranian heritage after the Deputy Minister of Iran's Cultural Heritage expressed concern about a lack of funds for maintaining critical sites.
“Last year, the financial resources allocated to the preservation and restoration of historical sites were 900,000 Tomans ($200) and monuments 13 million Tomans ($3,000),” Ali Darabi said on Tuesday. “The fact that all this historical greatness and cultural heritage should be preserved and restored with this minimal budget is beyond me.”
With 27 sites, Iran ranks among the top 10 countries with the most cultural heritage sites in UNESCO's World Heritage List. As a baseline, a report from 2023 in Euronews shows an €800 million budget for preserving cultural heritage in Italy. A similar budget for Germany in 2020 was €647 million.
Immediately following these remarks, media reports and expert opinions warned of the long-standing mismanagement that has threatened the survival of historical monuments. In particular, the poor condition of Persepolis, the 2500-year-old epicenter of the Achaemenid Empire, was highlighted.
Specialists warned that this UNESCO World Heritage Site faces a crisis of lichen fungus invasion. While a combination of acid rain and the region's climate is responsible for the growth of the lichen, experts have criticized the National Heritage Department for failing to protect the site.
Maziar Kazemi, former head of the conservation department at Persepolis, told Iran International: "Lichens are one of the natural factors that contributed to the destruction of the Achaemenid sites of the past. Parts of the area with more humidity and less direct sunlight always suffer from this problem."
Tackling these issues requires permanent budgets so specialists can conduct continuous research and investigation. They also need to be able to collaborate with international groups.”
He said sites such as Persepolis, which are considered pre-Islamic monuments, have “never received adequate budget allocations”. He also noted the challenges of facilitating the visa issuance process and bilateral cooperation with international teams."
According to Kazemi, an Italian expert team had carried out a joint project to treat lichens some time ago, but the project was abandoned.
“The Ministry of Cultural Heritage's trickle-down budgets and the strictness of entry and exit of foreign expert teams will not allow continuous monitoring of natural damages such as lichen,” Kazemi emphasized.
Experts have also warned that lichens were damaging Iranian cuneiform inscriptions, particularly in Biston, a historical complex located 30 kilometers northeast of Kermanshah city, southwest of Iran.
The Sivand dam is also blamed for increasing humidity around Pasargad and Persepolis. Before it was built in 2007, UNESCO warned about the dangers of the dam to historical monuments.
In an editorial for Setareh-e Sobh newspaper on Saturday, Ali Saleh Abadi criticized the regime for the “incorrect assessment of the consequences of their actions for the economy and people’s daily lives.”
He wrote, “Any form of conflict, including verbal threats, has a detrimental effect on the economy,” he continued. “We need to ask why Arab countries that went to war with Israel before are now defending it against Iran’s attack.”
The Iranian attack on Israel last weekend involved over 350 missiles and drones, almost all of which were intercepted by Israel and a US-led coalition of allies. In contrast, the operation on Friday involved three missiles fired by fighter aircraft outside of Iran, according to a senior US official speaking with ABC News.
Although Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, ABC News and CNN, citing US officials, have attributed it to Israel. According to the former, the air defense radar site in Isfahan was the target of the attacks.
Isfahan is a critical province due to its military bases, and the underground Natanz enrichment facility, which suspected Israeli sabotage attacks have repeatedly targeted.
In Tehran's leading reformist daily Etemad, former minister and long-time intelligence official Ali Rabiei wrote that Israel has not responded proportionally to Iran's barrage of missiles and drones while they seek an international coalition against Tehran with potentially harsh consequences.
Iran claims the bombardment was an act of self-defense after Israel allegedly conducted an air strike on the Iranian consulate compound in Damascus, killing one of the most senior Quds Force commanders and multiple IRGC personnel earlier this month.
In the same paper, Mostafa Zahrani, a former director general of strategic affairs in the foreign ministry, said the new strategy of IRGC’s direct conflict with Israel would "escalate war rather than [act as] deterrence."
In his view, the use of Iran's proxies across the region offers a more effective deterrent than direct conflict against Israel, Zahrani adding that while things are at present relatively calm, “there is a possibility that miscalculations by both sides could result in war.”
In Saturday's Jahan Sanat, Nader Karimi challenged the Iranian authorities' claim of robust defense systems by asking, “Why are these anti-aircraft systems waiting until the micro-birds are flying inside the country and over the nuclear facilities to strike them? They should have been spotted long before by radars. This is not in accordance with the stated security and deterrence strategies." He warned the conflict "will not end soon".
Last week, legal proceedings were brought against Jahan Sanat newspaper, accusing it of "compromising national security" for its coverage of Saturday's operation against Israel. It is the latest legal action to be taken against publications and journalists amidst ongoing crackdowns.
Shargh Daily, a reformist and relatively independent newspaper, speculated if news of the EU and US “yielding to Israeli demands” for tougher sanctions and the Friday attack on Iranian soil signals and ending of the current crisis between the two archenemies.
An ex-parliament member claimed that if Israel was behind the latest attack, “it was a controlled operation that was not intended to provoke international reactions” as powers such as the US call for calm following last weekend's aerial bombardment.
“Sanctions alone are not enough, and Israel had to attack because of balancing geopolitical equations,” Mohammad Javad Jamali Nobandegani said, adding that further Israeli attacks cannot be ruled out.