A group of Italian archaeologists will head for Iran next week to study ways of rebuilding Bam and its ancient Citadel, Arg-e Bam almost destroyed by a recent strong earthquake, a senior Italian official announced Tuesday, IRNA reported from Rome.

photo: ISNA

Head of the Mediterranean and Middle East Office of the Italian foreign ministry Ricardo Sessa told IRNA that first plan on rebuilding Arg-e Bam will be devised through cooperation among Iran, Italy and UNESCO.

The former Italian ambassador to Iran said that other countries should play their technical part in rebuilding Arg-e Bam since it belongs to the civilization and history of the world.

All historical documents, the current situation of the Citadel and pictures prepared by satellites and other measures taken so far should be studied thoroughly in order to gather accurate information in order to rebuild Arg-e Bam as it had been constructed, the Italian official added.

photo: ISNA

Sessa who had visited Arg-e Bam several times during his tenure in Iran, reiterated that no country like Italy could understand the extent of damage inflicted on Arg-e Bam. "We will remain beside Iran and its people until rebuilding the ancient Citadel is completed."

He further added that some agreements were concluded for cooperation between the two countries on how to approach natural disasters and reduce consequences, following negotiations with some Iranian officials.

"We have called on Iranian experts to take part in an international workshop on 'how to deal with earthquake' which will be held in Italy by the end of the year, said Sessa.

The Italian official underlined his country's readiness to provide Iran with its experiences to encounter natural disasters.

The city of Bam, in Kerman province southeastern Iran, is home to the oldest and biggest mud-brick structure citadel of the world which is almost flattened by a quake which Bam on December 26, killing tens of thousands of people.