Water Damage
The flooding is expected to greatly increase
humidity in the environs and this change is what protesters say could damage the
nearby Pasargadae plain, which includes the sixth century B.C. tomb of Cyrus the
Great, the founder of the first Persian Empire under the Achaemenid
dynasty.
Alleged hostility to the non-Islamic
past has its logic: this heritage is not religious and it is closely
associated with monarchs and princes the present Islamic regime
denounces.
Cyrus's successors built another Iranian
landmark, the palatial complex at Persepolis that is near the southern city of
Shiraz. Activists say increased humidity will damage the Cyrus mausoleum, while
flooding would cover areas that have not yet been fully excavated.
Supporters of the Sivand project point to the
hydroelectric power that the dam will generate for the area and possibilities
for economic growth.
The dam was due to begin filling with water
on February 19, "Kargozaran" reported on February 15, despite protests on
February 12 in Tehran by environmental activists at the Energy Ministry and in
front of parliament two days later. It will take one year to fill.
Teams of Iranian and foreign archeologists from
Japan, Germany, Italy, France, and other countries have been working
feverishly to finish archeological excavations at sites due to be
flooded.
Organized Protests
A letter of protest was also signed by 30 groups
and parties, including prominent formations like the reformist Islamic
Revolution Mujahedin Organization, the Association of Qom Seminary Researchers
and Teachers, a reformist clerical grouping, and members of the graduate-wing of
the Office to Consolidate Unity, Iran's leading umbrella student group, the
daily "Etemad-i Melli" reported on February 13.
Their statement observed that the water would
not only threaten sites, but flood traditional grazing grounds for nomadic
tribes, and drown at least 8,000 trees -- some of them 500 years old --
that they claim are unique in their genetic variety.
"Etemad-i Melli" cited Hamid Baqai, the deputy
head of the Cultural Heritage Organization, as saying on February 12 that the
Energy Ministry has made several studies on the dam and consulted with some
archeologists who he says report that there are no longer any excavations to be
done in the area.
Baqai told ISNA that unspecified protective
measures could be taken to protect Cyrus's mausoleum. He said studies on the dam
were carried out 40 years ago, and the dam has been constructed during the last
11 years. He asked: "This dam was not built secretly overnight, so...where were
these opponents before?"
Imad Afrugh, the head of the parliamentary
Culture Committee, said on February 14 that protestors should provide solid
evidence of the damaging impact of the dam in order for the committee to discuss
the matter with the relevant bodies, "Kargozaran" reported. But he said
parliamentarians cannot challenge the ministry on the basis of expressions of
"love" or "devotion" for buildings.
Photo: Hossein Nilchian's
Persepolis Images
Critical Issues
There are several important aspects at play in
this issue: one being the need to efficiently use water in a country where water
resources are scarce. Another is a perception of government indifference to
public demands.
Yet another aspect concerns national identity.
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran's government and especially its more
conservative clerics and politicians have often underemphasized Iran's
pre-Islamic heritage, sometimes even expressing contempt for it.
The Sivand Dam project may seem to some Iranians
like the latest in a list of actual, reported, or rumored instances of
government hostility to non-Islamic Iran.
For some time after the revolution, for example,
some Iranians alleged that the government wanted to ban Novruz, the ancient new
year holiday that falls on March 21.
There have also been persistent rumors that
after the revolution, "a mob" of revolutionaries went to the Persepolis site to
loot and chisel away its bas-reliefs, amid the indifference of
officials.
