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Norouz is one of the oldest and greatest
historical and cultural festivals of the Iranian civilization.
Iranian and Central Asia officials at UNESCO’s branch office
in Tehran are considering its file for being proposed for
registration on the UNESCO list of intangible heritage.
For nearly one year, Iran has sought to add the ceremony to
UNESCO’s list. However, the previous file was considered to
have some weaknesses and returned to Iran for completion.
Based on the convention for preservation of intangible heritage,
if a heritage is shared by different countries, it should be
proposed for registration by all, and since Norouz is a
tradition shared by all countries located in the perimeters of
Iranian civilization (Iranian World), its proposition
necessitates the approval of at least five countries of Central
Asia.
According to head of the Anthropology Research Center of
Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organization Mohammad Mirshokrai,
Norouz will surely be the Iranian choice of tradition; its film
is ready for submission to UNESCO and today will be screened for
representatives of 8 Central Asia countries at UNESCO’s branch
office in Tehran, he said.
The countries have already signaled their approval, announced
Mirshokrai, adding that it would take the approval of only five
countries for the file to be presented to UNSECO for
registration.
Countries that are not part of the convention, including Iran,
are allowed to present their requests of registration just until
the 30th of September 2004, and afterwards only countries
belonging to the convention are permitted to do so. From next
year on, only member states can present their traditions or
events for registration. Therefore the Iranian parliament is
right now accession.
According to head of the cultural sector of UNESCO’s national
commission in Iran Fatemeh Farahani, the first registered
intangible heritage of the world belongs to India, the film of
which was produced by one of the best directors of the country.
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