TEHRAN A senior official of the Organization Endowments and Charity Affairs (Owqaaf) said that the holy places with religious values are to be repaired and renovated throughout the country. Ahmad Ali Farzaddin, who is an advisor with the organization, said that the plans to expand and renovate such places will be carried out according to the degree of their importance and situation.

He stressed that his organization was ready to offer free technical assistance as well as equipment for the holy places which lack sufficient financial means to meet the expenses of the reconstruction operations themselves. Regretting that a great many of holy shrines in the country lacked any kind of identification at all, he pointed to the low income and poor public contribution as the most significant problems his organization faced in carrying out reconstruction projects in holy shrines.

The official furthermore stressed the need to preserve the traditional architecture of the religious sites, some of which possessed historical importance, and said the renovation plans should pay particular attention to maintaining the patterns of old Iranian architecture while trying to use the modern designs in them as the same time.