Darabi: US and Israeli Attack on Sites Bearing the 'Blue Shield' Violates the Hague Convention

Ali Darabi, head of the Board of Governors of the Regional Center for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in West and Central Asia, said the US and Israeli attack on 149 historical sites bearing the 'Blue Shield' emblem is a clear violation of the 1954 Hague Convention.

According to the Arya Heritage report, Ali Darabi, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Regional Studies Center for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage in West and Central Asia, said in the seventh regular meeting of the Board of Governors, which began its work this morning, Tuesday, October 21, 1405, at the Lala Hotel in Tehran, that this meeting is being held in a situation where dear Iran and its noble nation are unwittingly involved in two wars imposed by the two nuclear powers of the world. America and the child-killing regime of Israel.

Referring to the bombing of 14,000 economic, industrial, construction, service, hospital, educational and university centers, including the killing of 168 students of Mazloum Minab and the martyrdom of the leader of the Islamic Revolution, he said: "Due to unstable conditions, it was not possible for some guests and respected members of the Council to attend, and I hope that with the victory of the great nation of Iran, we will hold the next summit in conditions of stable peace."

The Deputy Minister and Deputy Minister of Cultural Heritage of the country continued: During this war of aggression, 149 historical monuments, including 5 works of world registration, and 49 museums were damaged in Iran, all of which were marked with the "Blue Shield" sign, and according to the 1954 Hague Convention, these historical cultural places should not be attacked.

Darabi continued: Holding this meeting under such circumstances shows the commitment and loyalty of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the preservation and protection of the field of culture.

He added: All of us, who have a mission in the field of culture and intangible heritage, should put extra efforts for dialogue, persuasion, empathy and common language at the top of our work.

The Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Regional Studies Center for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage in West and Central Asia said: "During the past two years, for our country and for a part of the region, the war and crisis conditions in the region, restrictions on movement and communication, and difficulties caused by the international environment, affected the possibility of face-to-face meetings and cooperation." Some plans were inevitably postponed and this meeting was held later than expected.

Darabi continued: Despite all this, the dialogue continued, communication with specialized networks was maintained, and Tehran's Intangible Heritage Center tried to maintain its regional and international presence even in the most limited conditions.

Darabi mentioned the programs held in the last 2 years, including the workshop held in Armenia, the program of women carrying living heritage, the networking of NGOs, the cooperation of memory institutions for the young generation, the training of policymakers in Iran, etc.

He added: For the 2026-2027 period, axes such as the resilience of communities against climate change, indigenous knowledge of water, knowledge and traditional methods of treatment, food systems and related knowledge, as well as capacity building programs for the implementation of the 2003 Convention in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have been proposed.

Financial stability and resource mobilization for the development of regional missions, increasing the participation of countries and expanding specialized programs were other points that the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Regional Studies Center for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage in West and Central Asia pointed out.