TEHRAN - A total of 56,000 historical objects have been restored in Iranian museums and laboratories since August 2013, when President Hassan Rouhani began his first administration, deputy tourism minister has announced. 

Furthermore, some 3,300 restoration projects have commenced on the historical sites, monuments, museums as well as aging structures during the same period, of which 90 percent have been carried out by the private sector, Mohammad-Hassan Talebian said on Wednesday. 

While the country enjoyed 455 museums in 2013, 277 more museums have come on stream during the past seven years, which is a leg for the cultural development, scientific progress, and the protection of cultural identity, the official added. 

He also noted that more than 2,000 projects in the field of cultural heritage are underway across the country, 600 of which will be inaugurated by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20).  

Investment in the field of cultural heritage, handicrafts, and tourism is not comparable with other sectors as it can be done with a small budget, and now there are more than 200,000 investment opportunities in these fields in the country, he explained. 

Iran is home to one of the world’s oldest continuous major civilizations, embracing settlements dating back to 4000 BC. It also hosts some of the world’s oldest cultural monuments including bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, gardens, rich natural, rural landscapes as well as 24 UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The name of Iran, formerly known as Persia, mostly conjures up the first Persian Empire, ruled by the Achaemenids (ca. 550 – 330 BC) and sites such as Pasargadae and Persepolis. However, there are tens of prehistorical sites as the Burnt City in Sistan-Baluchestan, Tepe Sialk in Kashan, Susa and Chogha Zanbil in the Khuzestan province, and Ecbatana in Hamedan which predate the Achaemenid period.

From a wider point of view, Iranian history can be divided into Pre-Islamic and Islamic eras. The Medes unified Iran as a nation and empire in 625 BC. The Islamic conquest of Persia (633–656) that put an end to the mighty Sassanid Empire (224–651) was a turning point in the history of the nation.

ABU/AFM