Isfahan – Museum or Iranian and world history

Authorities of Isfahan city in Iran invite the people of Moldova to visit this center of world history and civilization, of industry and science, as tourists, businessmen or for experience exchanges. Mayor of Isfahan Said Morteza Saghaian Nejad voiced the invitation during the meeting with a group of Moldovan journalists who traveled to Iran for a fact-finding visit, Info-Prim Neo reports. “Isfahan is a museum of national and world history. There are more than 6000 registered historical monuments. Some are included in international registries and are monuments of world culture. The city has a history of 5000 years. Isfahan was considered an important city before and after the spread of Islam. It was thrice the capital of the Iranian state. In 2006, Islamic countries declared Isfahan the capital of Islamic culture. Iran considers Isfahan the capital of Islamic culture and civilization. It is a corridor of cultural and scientific research. 185 names of handmade products are made in Isfahan and 37 are registered by UNESCO. I’m sure a day or two aren’t enough to know Isfahan. One needs at least a month to understand the place and its role in the cultural circuit and in other fields”, said the Mayor. According to him, in the field of education Isfahan is second only to the country’s capital Teheran. “Here we have 18 universities with 250,000 students. The two metallurgical plants are the largest in the country and there are also important oil companies. Thus, we have considerable potential that may attract companies from other countries. I can add that representatives of different religions have lived in peace here for centuries. You should visit the Armenian church and district, the Jewish community’s synagogue and the Zoroastrian church. Muslims, Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians have cohabited peacefully here for hundreds of years. Some countries try to reach this stage today, but we reached it centuries ago”, said Said Morteza Saghaian Nejad. He says that Isfahan has a population of 2 million people, plus a significant number of tourists. “We have 6 million domestic tourists and 750,000 foreign tourists per year. Most of them are from cities we have collaboration agreements with. You must understand that this data, especially that related to foreign tourists, doesn’t show our real potential. Isfahan belongs near the great cities like Paris, Beijing or Florence”. Isfahan can serve as a model for solving contemporary urban problems. “We’re one of the Iranian cities with a development strategy. We have already applied 4 strategic plans. The current one will be finished in 4 years and it mainly concerns road traffic, the rationalization of the number of cars and the environment. We want to use Euro 4 and Euro 5 fuels in all Iranian cities. The plan is to get rid of all cars older than 15 years in the next 3 years. Another direction is public transport, including the subway. Within 6 months, the first subway line will be opened in Isfahan. The city has many autobahns. We have three beltways that allow us to reduce the number of cars in the city. Malls are moved from the center of the city to its peripheries. We don’t waste our garbage. It is all processed or transformed into fertilizers or energy resources”, said the Mayor. According to him, central authorities provide 30% of the city’s budget, financing mainly objectives of national importance. For example, the construction of the subway line is funded by Teheran in proportion of 50%. This year’s budget is more than one billion dollars and next year it is expected to grow by 45%. The Isfahani elected through direct vote the City Council, which in turn elects the Mayor. The main access way for people from outside Asia is the International Airport “Imam Khomeini”. Upon the departure of the Moldovan delegation of journalists, the head of international relations division said that the airport was opened in 2005, when it began with flights from the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. Later, all international flights were fully transferred here. “The airport has about 200 flights with 300,000-400,000 passengers per day. It occupies an area of 14,000 and this only the first stage of the project that must raise the airport to the role of regional aeronautic center. For travelers, we have a nice Duty Free with national and international brands and everything else one could find in all international airports”, said the representative of the Teheran International Airport. The visit of Moldovan journalists in Iran was made at the invitation of Iranian independent press agency “Fars” and was organized by Iran’s Embassy in Moldova located in Kiev and by Moldova’s Embassy in Ukraine.