TEHRAN - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated 33 projects of tourism, cultural heritage, and handicrafts across Lorestan province via a video conference on Thursday. 

A total value of 13.2 trillion rials (about $314 million at the official exchange rate of 42,000 rials per dollar) has been channeled into the projects, the provincial tourism chief announced in the inauguration ceremony. 

The projects are expected to generate 500 job opportunities for the local people of the western province, Amin Qasemi said. 

The projects include an agritourism site with an investment value of 10 trillion rials (about $238 million) as well as a tourist complex worth three trillion rials ($71.4 million), the official added. 

A total of 31 restoration projects including repairing and reviving some aging structures inside the historical textures of the cities of Khorramabad and Brujerd were also among the inaugurated projects, according to Qasemi. 

Lorestan is a region of raw beauty that an avid nature lover could spend weeks exploring. Falak-ol-Aflak fortress in the provincial capital of Khorramabad is one of the top destinations in the province, which is one of the lesser-known travel destinations in Iran, and mainly acts as a gateway to the neighboring Khuzestan province which hosts UNESCO sites of Susa, Tchogha Zanbil, and Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System. 

Lorestan was inhabited by Iranian Indo-European peoples, including the Medes, c. 1000 BC. Cimmerians and Scythians intermittently ruled the region from about 700 to 625 BC. The Luristan Bronzes noted for their eclectic array of Assyrian, Babylonian, and Iranian artistic motifs, date from this turbulent period.

ABU/AFM