Iran given another chance for Masouleh
The “Masouleh Cultural Landscape” dossier failed to secure a vote in favor of its inclusion in UNESCO’s World Heritage List, prompting Iran to address its shortcomings and potentially resubmit the dossier in upcoming sessions of the World Heritage Committee.
In the 45th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the dossier was discussed but failed to secure approval due to opposition from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). This means that Iran has the opportunity to rectify the issues in the dossier and resubmit it in future committee meetings, IRNA reported. The proposed dossier was sent to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre based on consultations and approvals from the National Council for Registration of Monuments. It had been in the UNESCO World Heritage Site’s tentative list since 2007, meeting acceptable conditions in terms of conservation and management.
During the session, the dossier was met with criticisms by ICOMOS, with concerns raised about the lack of sufficient documents and records. As a result, ICOMOS recommended the dossier’s rejection by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and suggested a “Deferral” (for addressing dossier issues and reviewing in future sessions) and “Referral” (for addressing minor issues and re-evaluation without waiting for a specific session). However, the dossier transitioned from “Not Inscribed” to “Referral,” allowing Iran to resubmit the dossier for potential world heritage listing.
Nonetheless, representatives from Oman, the UAE, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria advocated for the dossier and called for a reconsideration of ICOMOS’ recommendation.
The Japanese representative, while recognizing the tourism appeal of Masouleh, also pointed out issues within the dossier and mentioned extensive debates between Iran and ICOMOS on the subject. The Russian representative at UNESCO recalled that most of ICOMOS’ concerns arose during the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected communication and potentially led to doubts about the content.