World Heritage sites of Susa, Tchogha Zanbil, and Shushtar Hydraulic System have been selected as the pilot zone of a joint project, which will be carried out by Iranian and Italian experts, IRNA quoted a provincial official as saying on Thursday.

The scheme, which touches upon cultural heritage, tourism, and handicrafts, was initially launched in 2019 and subsequently interrupted due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It restarted its operational phase with a roundtable on cultural heritage promotion and responsible tourism development, held last week at the residence of the Italian Ambassador in Tehran, Giuseppe Perrone.

According to Perrone his embassy is highly responsible for depicting the richness of "so deep and so complete cultural ties", which have long been developed between the two nations. “I think because our cultural ties are so deep and so complete in every area, we do have a responsibility to showcase this richness and to tell people the story of this important connection that has always existed between Italy and Iran in different areas, so we look forward to our future projects which are going to be quite amazing as well.”

In November 2019, on the sidelines of the ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of the joint cultural heritage, the Italian envoy said: “Italian tourists are fond of Iran because it has a natural diversity that is appealing to them. Italians are also fond of Iran’s unique antiquities.”