TEHRAN – Iranian tourism officials have announced the beginning of the process of documenting and registering cultural elements of the Persian Gulf on national and international lists given the high status of the waterways in historical documents and archaeology.
Alireza Izadi, director of Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Crafts, called it a strategic measure to defend Iranian identity, Irna reported.
On a visit to Bucher province, Izadi said that one of the priorities of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts is to preserve and protect Iran’s historical identity.
Based on reliable historical documents and scientific evidence in archaeology, the name of the Persian Gulf is an undeniable truth that should be registered nationwide and globally stable in the form of an intangible heritage.
In repeated attempts to distort the name of the Persian Gulf by some stream, he said that, based on the explicit order of Reza Salehi Amiri, a comprehensive document would firmly compile the compilation of the archaeological sector, focusing on the ancient Shiraf port.
He stated, “Some political competition and actions at the International Forum should not ignore the historical credibility of this name. The Persian Gulf is part of the Iranian civilization’s identity, and it is a national, transnational and cultural obligation to preserve it.”
Pointing to the enormous capacity of Iran’s spiritual heritage, he said there are over 50 intangible heritage documents under study that should be placed on the national heritage list. Some of them are related to four southern states, he added.
Nearly 50,000 tangible heritage sites have been listed on the national heritage list, he said.
He calls concepts such as customs, traditions, cuisine, oral history of martialists such as Martian Rayz Ali Delvali, Martian Mohamad Ibrahim Hemati, Martian Safari, and other martian safari, and recorded and deserved to be handed over to future generations.
Pointing to Bucher’s important position in the fields of history, handicrafts and marine tourism, he said that documenting the epic poems of the Bucher people in the battle with the Portuguese is part of an effort to document the national identity. Boucher is considered one of the main foundations of sustainable tourism development in the country, he added.
Izadi concluded: “Tourism development is the main pathway to sustainable development in the country, and we have an obligation to document and record the elements that give Iran its identity, to introduce and protect them in professional and national ways, as well as at the level of civilization of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
KD