TEHRAN – Iran’s tourism minister has said a national conference will be held in Tehran to celebrate and promote the UNESCO inscription of the Prehistoric Sites of the Khorramabad Valley, which were added to the World Heritage list in July.

Minister Seyyed Reza Salehi-Amiri made the announcement during a visit to Lorestan province, where he attended a local ceremony marking the valley’s inscription, Mehr news agency reported on Saturday.

The upcoming event [in Tehran] would gather experts, scholars, and representatives from Lorestan and across the country, Salehi-Amiri said in a televised interview.

“We have discussed with the local and provincial officials and MPs to hold a national conference in Tehran with the participation of experts from Lorestan and across Iran, so that we can once again celebrate the inscription of the prehistoric sites.”

He said the sites should be introduced globally through international media. “The 29th World Heritage site in Iran belongs to Lorestan, and we can make significant use of this capacity,” he said, adding that local schools would be encouraged to integrate Lorestan’s geography and heritage into lessons to foster pride among students.

Salehi-Amiri also highlighted plans to pursue World Heritage inscription for Falak-ol-Aflak Castle in Khorramabad (the capital of Khorramabad province). “When a site is inscribed on the World Heritage List, it belongs to all humanity. Foreign tourists spend to see these sites, and no other property with this antiquity has yet been registered,” he said.

The Prehistoric Sites of the Khorramabad Valley, inscribed during the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Paris in July, include five caves and one rock shelter. The area preserves evidence of human occupation dating back 63,000 years, with archaeological remains from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic periods.

The sites reveal Mousterian and Baradostian cultures and provide insights into early human migration from Africa to Eurasia. Finds such as symbolic objects and sophisticated stone tools highlight the cognitive and technological development of Homo sapiens in the Zagros Mountains.

Among the most significant sites is Yafteh Cave, which contains some of the region’s earliest evidence of symbolic behavior, while Ghamari Cave preserves traces of Neanderthal occupation followed by Chalcolithic pastoral communities.

As mentioned by Salehi-Amiri, Iran has over one million documented heritage sites, of which about 43,000 are officially registered. Lorestan ranks as the country’s second province in terms of registered heritage properties.

AM