Recently national heritage experts in Iran have been speaking out about the condition of archeological artifacts and sites in Iran. According to Mohammad Ismail Esmaili, the head of the Scientific Association of Archeology of Iran, for several years the findings of Bandar Sassanid in the Persian Gulf and the ancient works of Siraf, which have been stored among the treasures of the National Museum, have been left without examination and further studies. According to him, many in the research community are not even aware of their existence.

Esmaili who was the head of the excavation of the ancient port of Siraf, told ISNA news agency that; “The archeological excavations of Siraf before the Islamic Revolution of Iran were jointly carried out by Iranian and British archaeologists, and the artifacts and objects obtained from it were then transferred to the two main museums, the British Museum and the National Museum of Iran. However, after the Iranian revolution while excavations were carried out in the area and many objects were transferred to the Iran National Museum, they have not been studied or investigated in these years. As a result many artifacts have been abandoned”.

According to many archaeologists, the poor handling of heritage site and objects and lack of awareness of some officials and residents of Siraf region, (many of whom are non-natives and are present in the region for work), about the importance of Siraf, has created the grounds for continued destruction of the heritage site which has great importance for Iran and global archeology community.

It seems that the archeology experts who have not been allowed to talk about Iran’s cultural-historical heritage in recent years, are now raising issues that the people of Iran were unaware of until recently.