The Iranian Railways was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List and was registered as the 25th World Heritage Site of Iran.
According to ISNA, Iran has participated in the UNESCO World Heritage Committee with two cases of “Iranian Railway”, and “Uraman” this year. The Iranian Railway will be examined in today’s meeting, which is being held virtually in Fuji, China. It was registered in the world despite the objections of ICOMOS experts.
The representative of ICOMOS (International Council of Buildings and Sites) is UNESCO’s advisory and specialized arm in the registration and protection of world heritage. They praised the cultural and historical values of the railways and suggested that they have to defer the case for more information.
UNESCO and ICOMOS experts had previously predicted little chance of the railways being inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. These evaluators and experts have repeatedly objected to this case.
However, at the summit, representatives from Norway, Australia, Ethiopia, Oman, Brazil, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Uganda, Thailand, and Hungary, while endorsing ICOMOS ‘opinion, described Iran’s railway as an engineering wonder. They stressed the importance of Historically, the case emphasized economic and international exchange and the connection between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf, and supported its inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The architectural values of the railways of Iran are valued and considered by the countries present at the meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
The Chinese representative also noted that they have studied this file well, saying that this file has criteria 2 and 4 for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List. However, ICOMOS experts stressed that this railways case does not meet these criteria for global registration.
Ahmad Paktchi, Iran’s ambassador and representative to UNESCO, said: We will use all proposals to protect this heritage.