Mohammad Beheshti added that five historical sites of Iran have so far been registered during 1978-2004, but the organization is planning to document the historical monuments for the UNESCO annual registration.

The Bistun Inscriptions are situated at the foot of the Zagros Mountains in the Kermanshah region of Iran. In ancient times Bistun was on the old road from Ecbatana, capital of ancient Media, to Babylon, and it was on that scarp that the Achaemenid king Darius I the Great (reigned 522–486 BC) placed his famous trilingual inscription, the decipherment of which provided an important key for the study of the cuneiform script.

The inscription and the accompanying bas-relief were carved in a difficult, though not inaccessible, rock face. Written in Babylonian, Old Persian, and Elamite, the inscription records the way in which Darius, after the death of Cambyses II (reigned 529–522 BC), killed the usurper Gaumata, defeated the rebels, and assumed the throne.

Beheshti added that the research center is making arrangements with the officials of the Department of Environment to prepare a joint bylaw for the protection and registration of the natural heritage in the list.

He also announced that the center is currently working on compiling an atlas on Iran’s anthropology, having almost collected the necessary information.

Beheshti further noted that compiling an atlas on the architecture and urban development of the country will soon begin and will be available in a data bank for the interested users as well.