TEHRAN (Iran News) According to the Ministry’s Public Relations Department, Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri made the remarks at the 20th Strategic Council meeting of the ministry, held with the participation of Kerman Governor Mohammad Ali Talebi.

Salehi Amiri emphasized the significance of the recent meeting between the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, the President, and members of the Cabinet, describing it as a turning point in the country’s governance. He praised President Masoud Pezeshkian’s comprehensive report during the meeting, calling it proof of the government’s maturity in its first year, and noted that the Leader endorsed the report several times with a supportive and fatherly approach.

Highlighting the cultural diplomacy dimension, Salehi Amiri referred to the performance of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Persepolis. He described the event as a remarkable cultural achievement stemming from Iran’s recent high-level delegation visit to Armenia. Outcomes of that visit, he added, included agreements on expanding overland tourism, organizing a handicrafts exhibition, and restoring the Blue Mosque of Yerevan. The concert at Persepolis, which featured a performance of the national anthem “Ey Iran,” symbolized cultural and artistic convergence between the two nations.

The minister also pointed to the presence of over 4,000 Persian-language students in Armenia, calling it an unparalleled capacity for expanding scientific, cultural, and social ties between the two countries, and a solid foundation for strengthening regional connections.

Referring to the public celebration of the inscription of prehistoric sites in Khorramabad Valley on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Salehi Amiri said the enthusiastic participation of citizens reflected both national pride and greater social vitality. “Events like these demonstrate that cultural heritage is not just a historical souvenir but a living and dynamic resource for building national identity and enhancing social well-being,” he stressed.

The minister further noted his recent meeting with Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, describing it as positive, constructive, and forward-looking, with important implications for cultural and international cooperation. He also mentioned a recent session with sociologists, saying the academic and analytical discussions could give new depth and direction to the ministry’s social and cultural policymaking.

Praising Kerman Governor Mohammad Ali Talebi, Salehi Amiri said his appointment was one of President Pezeshkian’s best decisions. He described Talebi as energetic, reform-minded, and creative, noting that Kerman province has gained momentum in development under his leadership, particularly in the fields of cultural heritage and tourism.

In closing, the minister highlighted the launch of provincial strategic councils, established to socialize cultural heritage and address key local issues within the framework of national policies. Each council member, he explained, will act as a representative in a designated province to follow up on regional matters. This structure, he added, is a fundamental step toward deepening cultural justice, strengthening social cohesion, and achieving sustainable development at both national and regional levels.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – In a reaction to US President Trump’s threat to targeting Iranian cultural centers, Chinese Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran Cheung Hua said that “cultural heritage belongs to all humanity.”

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – The number of foreign tourists visiting Iran’s Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province rose by about 33 percent in the first eight months of the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2019), compared to the preceding period, the top provincial tourism official said.

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“The accused was traced and lastly arrested in Nahavand after police received reports from cultural heritage aficionados about him [illegally] keeping ancient relics, some of which date back to the first millennium BC,” a senior police official in charge of protecting cultural heritage and the one who seized the stash said on Saturday, Mehr reported.

Recovered objects include 13 silver and copper coins, bronze figurines, seven rings made from silver or copper, agate beads, a copper bowl, three daggers, and a semi-circular metal object, which experts of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, [Tourism and Handicrafts] declared date from the 1st Millennium BC to Parthian and Islamic periods, Amir Rahmatollahi added.

The culprit was surrendered to the judicial system for further investigation, the report said.

Earlier this year, Iranian authorities have recently confiscated four historical coins from two smugglers in Bojnourd, the capital of North Khorasan province.

Two of the objects, made of copper, have been estimated to date from the Parthian era (247 BC–224 CE) and the two other dates back to the time of Safavid dynasty (1501–1736), CHTN quoted Hossein Asghar Qanbarzadeh, a senior police official in charge of protecting cultural heritage.

An unknown object was also recovered from the suspects, who were detained in this regard and surrendered to the judicial system for further investigation, he added.

The two were arrested while making a deal in an antique market in Bojnourd.

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Amongst invitees to the event are Iran’s tourism minister Ali-Asghar Mounesan, Italian Ambassador to Iran Giuseppe Perrone and tens of cultural heritage experts, archaeologists, restorers, and media personnel, IRIB reported on Thursday.

Organized by Iran’s Research Institute of Cultural Heritage & Tourism, the conference of Iran-Italy collaboration in cultural heritage is aimed to discuss four main areas of Iranian cultural heritage, namely; archaeological findings relative to prehistorical times, the ones that are liked with Achaemenid-era, ones linked to Parthian and Sassanid times, and the field of conservation.

An Iranian and an Italian expert, who have previously collaborated in each of the aforementioned fields, will deliver lectures during the conference, the report said.

On the same day, an archaeological exhibition dedicated to the 60th year of partnership will be inaugurated at the museum. The exhibit will be running through December 1.

From the early 20th century on, according to Encyclopedia Iranica, Italians participated in the scholarly investigation of ancient Iranian history and culture, most notably Ugo Monneret de Villard, but Italy’s direct involvement in field archeology in Iran dates from relatively recent times. The first agreement between the Iranian Archeological Services and the Institute for the Middle and Far East (Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, IsMEO, q.v.) was reached only in 1959. Under its learned and dynamic director, Giuseppe Tucci (q.v.), IsMEO had already started archeological research in Pakistan (1956) and Afghanistan (1957).

Since 1960 the Center for Archeological Excavation has organized large-scale excavations in the region of Sistan; the Center for Conservation carried out especially significant research at Persepolis and Isfahan.

Conservation and restoration work at Persepolis began in 1964. In 1965 it came under the guidance of the conservation expert Giuseppe Tilia, who worked with his wife, A. B. Pettersson-Tilia, on all aspects of preliminary site research, as well as on restoration.

Italian archeology in Iran is not limited to IsMEO, for from the mid-1970s other Italian institutions also established field research projects in various regions of Iran. In 1976 the University of Turin participated in a joint program with the University Museum of Pennsylvania and the Iranian Center for Archeological Research, known as the Hesar Restudy Project; it was undertaken out of a need to study this fundamental site, uncovered in the region of Damgan during the 1930s, more thoroughly.

From 1976 to 1978 Italian researchers from the Institute of Mycenaean and Aegean-Anatolian Studies (a branch of the National Research Council [Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche]) conducted surface surveys, directed by P. E. Pecorella and M. Salvini, in the Urmia and Usnaviye plains, as well as in the area between Lake Urmia and the Zagros Mountains in Iranian Azerbaijan.

An important highlight of Italian archeological work in Iran lies in the area of paleobotanical research, which formed part of the studies in Sistan and later at Tepe Yahya, Tepe Hesar, Qal’a-ye Esma’il Aqa, and Tepe Gijlar.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Minister Ali Asqar Mounesan announced on Wednesday that about five million foreign tourists have visited Iran in the first half the current Iranian calendar year (starting March 21, 2019).

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The ICHHTO has recently been changed into a ministry, and Mounesan was picked as President Rouhani’s candidate to serve as the minister.

“In 2017, the number of foreign tourists visiting Iran stood at 4.7 million. In 2018, the number reached 7.7 million, and we witnessed a boom in the first four months of the current year compared to the same period in previous years,” he added.

“Around March 2018, we received a governmental notice warning about the behavior of the US administration and its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, so we started to plan accordingly so that the measures would not affect the number of tourists visiting our country,” Mounesan added.

He said one of these plans was to define new target markets.

“For instance, we implemented a one-way visa waiver with Oman. Recently, we did the same with China. From Oman alone, we received 4,700 tourists. The number has reached 12,400 tourists since the past three months,” he added.

“We have made plans and set our sight on regional markets. As of now, tourists visit Iran for receiving treatment, besides doing pilgrimages. This has brought in a lot of revenues for the country, even more so than revenues brought in by European tourists,” he said.

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He added that the majority of the cars were manufactured by Volkswagen, with others belonging to Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Peykan. The cars were manufactured between 1950 and 1975, he said.

Darvishi maintained that the aim of the tour is to protect vintage cars in the capital.

The tour will begin at Niavaran Complex in northern Tehran, and continue through major highways to make a stop at the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization near Azadi Tower. The tour will wrap up on the premises of the National Museum of Iran in downtown Tehran.

Touring & Automobile Club of the Islamic Republic of Iran is an institution at the vice presidency and the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization. It is related to the tourism industry, and its tasks includes facilitating the travel of owners of vehicles abroad or foreign tourists who are traveling to Iran by their own vehicles. The institution also helps develop tourism through establishing tourism information offices at home and abroad, as well as developing infrastructures and tourism Services.

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Nasir-ol-molk Mosque is one the tourist attractions of Shiraz which was built during the Qajar dynasty at the end of the 19th century. It is one of the most unique and different mosques in Iran. The mosque is famous for its colored glasses and its tiles are unique in their kind.

This mosque is called by many different names. Mostly known as the “Pink Mosque” because its tiles are beautifully decorated with a pre-eminently pinkish rose color, it is also called the “Mosque of colors,” the “Rainbow Mosque” or the “Kaleidoscope Mosque”.

It is located in a region in the southern part of Lotf Ali Khan Zand Street. The mosque was built by order of Mirza Hasan Ali Nasir ol Molk, a Qajar ruler. Mohammad Hasan-e-Memar, an Iranian architect, and Mohammad Reza KashiSaz were two designers of this mosque. The construction of this elegant mosque was finished after 12 years.

It is 2890 square meters and considered as one of the most valuable mosques in Iran in terms of construction, especially tiling and muqarnas (a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture). It has two shabestan (an underground space that can be usually found in traditional architecture of mosques, houses, and schools in ancient Iran which were usually used during summers) in east and west.

The eastern Shabestan has seven columns that are located in the middle of the space and are in a row. The most amazing part of the mosque is the western Shabestan. There are twelve columns which are placed in two rows of six. Seven arches are located between the two pillars, and at the end, there is an attractive tiled altar. The floor of the altar is made of marble and its surface is lower than the floor of the Shabestan. The western Shabestan has seven wooden doors with colored glasses that open to the courtyard.

With dazzling stained glass, thousands of painted tiles on the ceiling and Persian rugs covering the floor, this place of worship is a gorgeous rainbow of color in every direction, like stepping into a kaleidoscope.

There is an open courtyard with a rectangular pool in the center of the mosque, surrounded by flowers. The building’s facade features dozens of Islamic arches, adding to the beauty of the light show from the stained glass.

Despite other mosques, Nasir-ol-molk Mosque has no dome, which indicates that this religious building was quite personal and not used by the public. The tiling of this mosque is unique and the use of pink color is one of the features of the mosque which is not usual in any other Iranian mosques.

In autumn and winter, when the sunlight shines through the colorful glasses, and reflexes it on blue mosaics, make a dazzling view inside this mosque which making this mosque outstandingly aesthetic among other mosques of Iran.

Recently, Nasir-ol-molk Mosque has been lighted at nights as well; the light passes through the colored glasses and spreads into the yard and all over the mosque.

Nasir-ol-molk Mosque is still used for worship. It was registered in Iran’s National Heritage on February 1955 under the registration number of 369.

The best time to visit Nasir-ol-molk Mosque is early in the morning before 9 a.m when the hall and its Persian carpets are illuminated with a kaleidoscope of patterned flecks of light.

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Iran is a country of immense beauty, charm, and ancient-world mystery. From the Caspian Sea in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south, Iran is filled with numerous tourist attractions–mostly untouched.

Among many attractions, astronomy tourism, a type of tour which can flow a big sum of money to the sector’s pockets, has garnered a lot of attention lately.

Iran – a land covered with wide deserts in the eastern and central parts, where the melody of the wind is the only sound that reaches the visitor’s ears – offers some of the most pristine star-gazing conditions in the world.

To make the pest of such opportunities, travel agencies have been trying to organize tours on this ancient fascination to allow interested individuals to witness the beauty of the night sky it all its glory, far away from cities’ light pollution.

Worth to mention, the deserts of Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut provide clear skies for astronomy enthusiasts, making them some of the greatest places on the planet to witness the Heavens, and learn about the mythology of the stars, find constellations in the sky, listen to their stories in an interactive experience.

There are many other ancient sites in the country used to be the centers for mathematical astronomy. It should come as a little surprise that such places have now become top travel destinations for the aficionados.

Mathematical astronomy was used to build multistory ziggurat towers, such as Chogha Zanbil in Susa (in present-day Khuzestan province), dating back to the Elamite Era. Ziggurats functioned as observatories; at seven-floors high, ziggurats were used by astronomers to observe and record the movement of celestial bodies. Tables with astronomical computations of the distances between stars have been preserved and contain information on the basic fixed stars and constellations, their relative positions, and periods of the solar rising and settings, among others.

Ka’ba-ye Zartosht in Naqsh-e Rostam (located in present-day Shiraz), which was built during the Achaemenid Era, bears surprisingly detailed inscriptions of the cycle of days.

In the following centuries, more advanced structures called Chahar Taghi (meaning ‘four arches’ in Farsi) were used by astronomers to create calendars and almanacs. The most famous of such structures are the Niasar Chahar Taghi, Isfahan Province and the Radakan Chahar Taghi, Khorasan Razavi Province.

Sadly, not everyone has the time to take an astronomy tour; life has a habit of getting in the way of living; so, the stars have been brought to the city.

Gonbad-e Mina Planetarium

The Gonbad-e Mina Planetarium, located in the Abbasabad Hills area of Tehran, is designed to show the night sky in all its glory – even during the day.

The planetarium makes sure everyone gets a chance to gaze upon the starts without the nuisance of light pollution.

Featuring a full-dome 3D planetarium, Gonbad-e-Mina is said to be the largest in the Middle East. It provides astounding views of the sky reflected upon the ceiling.

There is a projector at the center of the planetarium and separate projectors for the Sun, the Moon and other planets and stars. It has been primarily built for presenting educational and entertaining shows on astronomy.

One of the most intriguing star shows at the planetarium is the projections of the night sky at various latitudes and longitudes at any moment in the past. Visitors are also treated to the position of unique constellations as seen from the northern and southern hemispheres.

The projection system, paired with the digital surround sound channels provide a surreal experience as you are taken on a journey through space.

The planetarium also houses a museum, showcasing ancient artifacts used thousands of years ago to observe and study the sky. One such artifact is the 2000-year-old Parthian Battery – discovered in the ancient city of Ctesiphon in 1936 – which is said to have been used as an electrical storage device. Another item of note is an astrolabe; a very ancient astronomical computer for solving problems relating to time and the position of the Sun and stars in the sky.

Other projects

There are a few other projects underway across the country to boost astronomical tourism capacities.

A major one is the Iran National Observatory in Kashan, Isfahan province.

The observatory is currently under construction and is slated to become operational by Autumn 2020.

Its design includes three stations with one large and two smaller telescopes, making it possible for the aficionados to enjoy looking deep into the skies.

The government is paying special attention to the tourism sector in line with the policies to diversify its revenue sources and reduce reliance on selling crude oil.

According to World Travel and Tourism Council’s annual research, the travel and tourism sector grew at 1.9% to contribute 1,158 trillion rials ($8.83 billion) or 6.5% of overall GDP and 1,334 jobs (5.4% of total employment) to the economy in 2018.

The WTTC report also shows international visitors spent 168,954 billion rials ($1.28 billion) in Iran in 2018. The council expects the number of international arrivals to stand at 6.5 million in 2019.

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