TEHRAN – A number of Iranian museum directors, archaeologists and cultural heritage advocates gathered at the National Museum of Iran in Tehran on Saturday to censure the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) over the destruction of artifacts at the Mosul Museum in Iraq.
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants ransacked Mosul’s central museum on Thursday, destroying priceless artifacts that are thousands of years old.
Director of Iran’s Museums and Historical Properties Office Mohammadreza Kargar, and director of the museums run by the Islamic Revolution Mostazafan Foundation Mohammadreza Javaheri were among the participants gathered in the central hall of the museum.
Archaeologists, experts on restorations, as well as members of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) were also included, said one of the organizers of the gathering, Fatemeh Ahmadi, to the Persian service of ISNA on Saturday.
The protestors issued and signed a statement in condemnation of the terrorist acts to announce their support and solidarity with the directors of the museums in Iraq, Ahmadi added.
The destruction of statues and artifacts that date from the Assyrian and Akkadian empires was revealed in a video published by ISIL on Thursday.
The footage depicting the destruction of the statues and other artifacts at the Mosul Museum was a huge shock for the cultural heritage and archaeology of Iran, she added, expressing hope that the act would stop such hostile activities of the terrorists.
The participants also asked ICOM to take action and find an academic approach in resolving the violent acts.
In addition, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General, Irina Bokova, has condemned the “deliberate attack against Iraq’s millennial history and culture”, calling it an inflammatory incitement to violence and hatred.
“This attack is far more than a cultural tragedy – this is also a security issue as it fuels sectarianism, violent extremism and conflict in Iraq,” Ms. Bokova has stated on the UNESCO website.
RM/YAW
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