Ten countries from the Persian civilization territory including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, India, and Iran presented a file about Nowruz (Persian New Year) for registration in the list of UNESCO Intangible Heritage as a multinational heritage.

However, after two years, registration of Nowruz file was turned down by UNESCO. The incompleteness of the file was announced as the main reason for the file not being registered.

In an interview with CHN, Ms. Junko Taniguchi, programme specialist in culture who works for UNESCO cluster office in Tehran, explained the reasons for turning down the file but she also announced that Nowruz file has not been completely rejected and that UNESCO welcomes any application in this regard and will do its best to help the countries to inscribe their national heritage in UNESCO's Heritage List. But she also mentioned that the countries should complete the file themselves and UNESCO can not do anything in this respect.

She strongly believes that Nowruz is not just an Iranian tradition but a lot of neighboring countries share this Zoroastrian culture. "Nowruz is not just an Iranian intangible heritage but it is shared among other nations as well. For example, in India Nowruz is a national holiday and that is largely due to the existence of a big Zoroastrian community in this country. So many countries around Iran share this Zoroastrian culture. In fact, from the very beginning UNESCO congratulated the Iranian national commission which has been working very closely with UNESCO," said Taniguchi.

She also appreciated the cooperation of Mohammad Mirshokrayi, head of Iran's Anthropology Research Center and the provider of Nowruz file, and also the efforts of Fatemeh Farahani, director of Cultural Department of UNESCO in Iran. Taniguchi believes that without the efforts of these two people Nowruz file would never have been gathered so completely, however it was not that comprehensive to be inscribed in the list of UNESCO Intangible Heritage.

"Nowruz file has not being accepted yet because it is a very big cultural heritage and with any nomination for Nowruz or any other intangible heritage you need a very good documentation to justify its outstanding value to be inscribed in the list of Intangible Heritage. You also need agreement with all different countries concerned, especially since UNESCO is an inter-governmental organization we need the approval of all countries in this respect to show their agreement with the group nomination of Nowruz file in the list of World Intangible Heritage. So this is a very difficult process because it is not only difficult to collect different information from different countries which Mrs. Farahani, and Dr. Mirshokrayi have both been working on, but you also need the governments to agree with the final document. This takes time because it is not just one country that is concerned about this file, and different people have different ideas about Nowruz. Therefore, it should have been done very carefully and also very comprehensively. So it is not something you can do within a short period of time, you need a lot of discussion and consultation. Dr. Mirshokrayi and Mrs. Farahani did their best and they should not be criticized in this respect but maybe it was a bit soon to submit the file. They should continue their work and to find ways through which they can cooperate more with other countries and with the authorities of Iran.

The UNESCO programme specialist in culture also explained that due to the difficult task of preparing a file for nomination of a heritage, the NGOs and private sectors can surely help the government in this respect. However, since it is just the government which has the ability to promise the executive protection of a historical site or heritage, and in fact it is the government which is in charge of preserving historical sites, therefore, the file which are submitted to UNESCO to be inscribed in the list of Intangible Heritage must be finally signed and approved by the government only. "I congratulate Iranians for what they have been doing so far about the nomination of this file. I wish them success while I guarantee that UNESCO can help them if there is any need to facilitate the process of Nowruz registration," said Taniguchi to CHN correspondent.

Altogether she believes that it was a bit soon to submit the file before completing it. For sure the case has the potential to be inscribed in UNESCO's List of Intangible Heritage but such a big job needs more time and care while UNESCO is ready to give any kind of help to needed for inscribing this file.

In addition to talking about registration of Nowruz in UNESCO, Taniguchi talked about other subjects including the special situation of the city of Herat in Afghanistan, lowering of Jahan Nama, and her view of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism News Agency of Iran.

Regarding the registration of the city of Herat in Afghanistan in UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites and saving it from being placed in the list of Endangered World Heritage, she explained that following the request of Hamed Karzai, Afghan President, UNESCO is considering the situation of some Afghan cities such as Bamian and Herat.

"UNESCO is cooperating with government of Afghanistan to finalize the emergency nomination. I am planning to go to Afghanistan with experts such as Dr. Shahriar Adel, who is an Iranian researcher in French National Center for scientific researches who has also assisted UNESCO as an international consultant. We are trying to go there on March or April to examine the situation of Herat and if everything goes well, the nomination could be considered as an emergency case in 2006 but it may even take to 2007 because it is a very big project," said Taniguchi.