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First nat’l museum charter approved in Iran to unify cultural governance
Iran approved its first comprehensive national museum charter, a senior heritage official said, setting out a unified governance framework for the country’s 830 museums and formally defining the role of museums within the national cultural system.
Ali Darabi, deputy minister for cultural heritage, told IRNA that the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution had endorsed the “National Museum Charter” after months of consultations with specialists, museum executives and academics, alongside reviews of international and domestic practices.
He described the document as a “strategic roadmap” for the future of Iran’s museum sector.
Darabi said the Islamic Republic had, for the first time, established a high-level policy document clarifying the functions of museums and outlining the responsibilities of the state and other institutions in supporting and developing the sector.
Under the charter, 20 state bodies have been assigned defined responsibilities through what officials described as an “institutional mapping” mechanism. The entities are required to coordinate with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts on museum policy, development and oversight.
Darabi said one of the charter’s central pillars was the establishment of “integrated museum governance”, bringing state-run museums, collections affiliated with the armed forces, banks, public institutions and private-sector museums under a common policy and regulatory structure for the first time.
He said the framework did not entail state ownership or interference in institutional holdings, but instead aimed to introduce shared standards, coherent supervision and coordinated management to curb overlap and fragmentation across the sector.
The charter is expected to strengthen museums’ contribution to cultural capital, national identity, public education and tourism development, while consolidating their standing within Iran’s broader cultural landscape.