UNESCO nominates 2 Iranian sites
Two Iranian sites, Jameh Mosque and Gonbad-e Qabus Tower, are to be assessed at the 36th session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Russia.
The Iranian files along with about 32 other sites, from among 936 places in 153 countries, will be reviewed at this year’s meeting of the World Heritage Committee of 22 experts, which is currently being held in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Jameh Mosque, the grand and congregational mosque in the Iranian historical city of Isfahan, is one of the oldest mosques (8th century) still standing in Iran.
Gonbad-e Qabus Tower, which is located in the northeastern Iranian city with the same name, is still the tallest pure baked-brick tower in the world.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee is also slated to consider Iran’s second case of geo-park in the country’s northwest, the Aras free zone, for a possible inscription on the World Heritage list in its later program in September, 2012.
World Heritage site is a title that is given to the locations, which have "outstanding universal value" to all of humanity, according to the UNESCO description.
“We must keep in mind the indisputable reality that the outstanding universal value of World Heritage sites is based on local values, local experience and most importantly on local conservation efforts,” World Heritage Committee chairperson Eleonora Valentinovna Mitrofanova said during the opening ceremony of the event on June 24, 2012.
The 36th session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee will run until July 6, 2012.