TEHRAN – Weeks after a halt in the 12-day Israeli-imposed war on Iran, Deputy Cultural Heritage Minister Ali Darabi announced the development of a three-stage plan for the safe and gradual reopening of museums and historical sites.

According to IRNA, he also said that this roadmap has been designed with using the learnings of cultural crisis management and in line of global documents, particularly The 1954 Hague Convention which aims to protect cultural property, such as monuments of architecture, art or history, archaeological sites, works of art, and manuscripts. Its concentration is on safeguarding the identity assets of the country and recreating the social role of organizations which preserve the cultural heritage, he added.

He explained that the plan will be implemented in three phases. At first, the limited and specialized-based reopening (for one month): In this stage, the visits are conducted in low-risk provinces with approval of the provinces’ Supply Council and in proportionate with capacity and resilience of the sites, he mentioned. 

The priority goes with sites which don’t have museum and are located in open space or archaeological sites such as Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Taq-e Bostan, Bisotun, Iranian gardens, historical mosques and Bam Citadel, he added.

Darabi explained that the second stage, which includes expanding gradual reopening, will be put into practice one month after implementation of the first stage. In this stage, other museums and stations will be reopened gradually through observing the protection obligations, he added.

According to him, the third stage includes complete reopening and returning to the normal pattern of exploitation of the museums.  

In this stage, with receiving the final reports from security organizations regarding stability of the conditions, museums and stations will be completely reopened and sideline services such as stores, café museums and collaborative operations will be resumed, he said. 

At end of this stage, the report of performance of crisis taskforce, documentation of the lessons and assessing the protective checklists will be put on agenda, he added.

Darabi emphasized that the gradual and secure reopening of the country’s museums and historical stations is a measure in line of returning to stable cultural conditions and a smart pattern for management of the cultural heritage sector in high-risk conditions. 

KD