World Heritage Committee removes the Iranian World Heritage site of Bam and its Cultural Landscape from danger listing

The World Heritage Committee has decided that improvements in the management and conservation of the World Heritage site of Bam and its Cultural Landscape, in the Islamic Republic of Iran, meant the property could be removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Bam was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004, shortly after it was struck by a major earthquake. Damage caused by the quake warranted the site’s simultaneous inscription on the List of Heritage in Danger. The Committee has now noted that remains of the desert citadel, which reached its apogee from the 7th to 11th centuries, had been sufficiently stabilized and its management was sound enough for the site to be declared safe.

The World Heritage Committee is currently holding its 37^th session in Phnom Penh. The review of the state of conservation of sites on UNESCO’s List in Danger will continue tomorrow. New sites are expected to be inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List later this week.