Iranian engineers began filling a new dam as archeologists warned that its reservoir will flood newly discovered antiquities and could damage Iran's grandest archeological site, the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis.
At the inauguration ceremony on Thursday, attended by Energy Ministry officials, pipes were opened for water to start flowing into an artificial lake created by the dam spanning the Sivand River, 840km south of the capital, Tehran.
The lake's waters will be used to irrigate the area's farms.
Iranian state-run television said the dam was opened "on the order of the President" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the hard-line Iranian leader did not attend the inauguration.
Delayed launch
The launch was delayed for months to give international archaeological teams time to conduct excavations in the area of the planned reservoir after an appeal from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The work yielded significant discoveries such as a road believed to be the Royal Passage of the Achaemenids, a powerful dynasty in ancient Persia that came to power in the 6th century BC.
An Achaemenid village with a cemetery and inhabited caves dating back 7,000 years was also discovered.
Iranian intellectuals and activists condemned the Tehran government for going ahead with the dam, calling it "stupidity."
Archeologists say flooding from the dam will submerge the Royal Passage, which linked Persepolis to Susa, two capital cities in ancient Persia.
It will also flood some of the 130 ancient sites along the Tang-e-Bolaghi, a mountain path that crosses the Sivand River.
There are also concerns that humidity, released through the underground water the dam will likely seep, could damage nearby Persepolis.
The sprawling ruins, Greek for "City of Persians," are famed for the grand double stairway rising to a wide, terraced audience hall with 72 columns.
Sacked by Alexander the Great about 330 B.C., the city is visited by millions every year, mostly Iranians, but foreigners also come to see the ruins.
Ancient capital
Experts also have expressed worries about Pasargadae, an ancient capital built by Cyrus the Great sometime after 550BC that holds his tomb.
Both Persepolis, 30km away, and Pasargadae, 8km away, are on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.
Iran's Islamic-oriented government has not shown much concern for cultural sites from the Persian era, unlike the country's more recent Muslim monuments.
The official IRNA news agency quoted Iranian Vice President Rahim Mashaei, who is also head of the country's Cultural Heritage Organization on Thursday as saying: "The opening of the Sivand Dam is no danger for Pasargadae," but did not mention the Royal Passage or Persepolis.
Archaeologist Parviz Varjavand said: "Irreplaceable human heritage" will be lost.
"This ruling establishment gives no value to Iran's cultural heritage. It is an act of stupidity and obstinacy," he said.
The death of a former head of China’s one-child policy has been met not by tributes, but by castigation of the abandoned policy on social media this week. State media praised Peng Peiyun (彭珮雲), former head of China’s National Family Planning Commission from 1988 to 1998, as “an outstanding leader” in her work related to women and children. The reaction on Chinese social media to Peng’s death in Beijing on Sunday, just shy of her 96th birthday, was less positive. “Those children who were lost, naked, are waiting for you over there” in the afterlife, one person posted on China’s Sina Weibo platform. China’s
‘NO COUNTRY BUMPKIN’: The judge rejected arguments that former prime minister Najib Razak was an unwitting victim, saying Najib took steps to protect his position Imprisoned former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was yesterday convicted, following a corruption trial tied to multibillion-dollar looting of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund. The nation’s high court found Najib, 72, guilty on four counts of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering related to more than US$700 million channeled into his personal bank accounts from the 1MDB fund. Najib denied any wrongdoing, and maintained the funds were a political donation from Saudi Arabia and that he had been misled by rogue financiers led by businessman Low Taek Jho. Low, thought to be the scandal’s mastermind, remains
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday announced plans for a national bravery award to recognize civilians and first responders who confronted “the worst of evil” during an anti-Semitic terror attack that left 15 dead and has cast a heavy shadow over the nation’s holiday season. Albanese said he plans to establish a special honors system for those who placed themselves in harm’s way to help during the attack on a beachside Hanukkah celebration, like Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Syrian-Australian Muslim who disarmed one of the assailants before being wounded himself. Sajid Akram, who was killed by police during the Dec. 14 attack, and
VISHNU VANDALS: A Cambodian official accused Thailand of destroying a statue in a disputed border area, with video showing the Hindu structure being torn down The Thai military said ceasefire talks with Cambodia, set to begin yesterday, are expected to conclude with a meeting of the countries’ defense ministers on Saturday, as the two sides seek to end weeks of deadly clashes. The talks started at 4pm in Thailand’s Chanthaburi Province, which borders Cambodia. The Thai Ministry of Defense outlined several demands to be discussed ahead of the bilateral meeting of the General Border Committee (GBC) on Saturday. If secretariat-level discussions fail to reach agreement on key technical frameworks such as troop deployments, the Thai side would not proceed with the GBC meeting or sign any agreement on
RSS