Peace Monuments in Irân

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1971 - Azadi Tower / Freedom Tower, Azadi Square, Tehran (Irân). The symbol of Tehran, and marks the entrance to the city. 50 metres (148 feet) tall and is completely clad in cut marble. Built to commemorate the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian Empire. Originally known as the Shahyad Aryamehr ("Remembrance of the Shahs") but renamed Azadi after the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

Date? - Peace Monument, at Azadi Museum?, Azadi Tower / Freedom Tower, Azadi Square, Tehran (Irân).

June 2004 - Peace Sculpture, Woodstock School, Mussoorie, Uttarakhand (India). Depicts world's oldest known word for "peace" (Sumerian cuneiform). Stainless steel sculpture by Jim Havens of Gibsonburg, Ohio (USA). Sumerian is a language created out of necessity for the grain trade circa 2,500 BCE. Monument designed to memorialize end of the Irân-Iraq War (1980-1988), but Irân cancelled the project, & the sculptor donated it to his alma mater. Woodstock is an elite boarding school in a hill station of northern India. Photo by EWL Jan07.

Date? - Tourist Information Globe, near Tabriz, East Azerbaijan Province (Irân). "I’ve encountered a few tourist information places, but none as unusual as the one on the road between Tabriz & the Irân-Turkey border. The petrol station had a tourist information booth which was in the form of a huge globe of the world. Judging by the sign nearby, it belonged to the 'East Azerbaijan Cultural Heritage & Tourism Organisation.' At first glance the map seemed to have all the continents, but north America was labelled as 'America Latin' & south America as 'America Northern' !! I was kind of glad this tourist information booth was closed as I’m not sure where we would have ended up if we’d needed directions to the border…"

Before 2007 - Globe with doves of peace, Sarab City (Irân). Who built this, when & why? On-line note by Steve Fryburg: "While traveling in Irân in 2007 we passed through a small town that had this beautiful monument in the center. So much nicer than the cannons & war memorials typically seen in towns in the US." NB: Dayton International Peace Museum publishes a post card with Steve's image of this monument.

Before 2007 - Peace Dove, Talesh, Talesh County, Gilan Province (Irân). Near Caspian Sea. On-line note by Steve Fryburg: "While traveling in Irân in 2007 we passed through a small town that had this beautiful monument in the center. So much nicer than the cannons & war memorials typically seen in towns in the US."

June 29, 2007 - Tehran Peace Monument, City Park, Tehran (Irân). Unveiled on the 20th anniverary of the chemical attack on the town of Sardashi in northwestern Irân. Depicts a white dove mounted on a marble pedestal and decorated by a message in six languages: "That terrible suffering gave us a new understanding of the cruelty of war, the terror of weapons of mass destruction, and the importance of peace. Until the day when all people on Earth can live in peace, we will continuously send messages of peace to the world."

September 21, 2007 - Tehran Peace Museum, North gate, City Park (Parke shahr), Tehran (Irân). An initiative of the Society for Chemical Weapons Victims Support (SCWVS) led by Dr. Shahriar Khateri (doctor who studied Iraq chemical attacks), assisted by the Dayton International Peace Museum of Dayton, Ohio (USA). Opened on International Day for Peace. New building (seen in images) was opened on June 29, 2011, 24th anniverary of the chemical attack on the town of Sardashi in northwestern Iran. The Tehran Peace Monument (qv) was unveiled June 29, 2007, 150 meters from the museum. Click here for Christian Science Monitor articl. Left image courtesy of museum director Shahriar Khateri. Affiliated with the Iranian Affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). Member of International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP).

November 26, 2012 - Monument to Victims of Chemical Weapons, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), The Hague (Netherlands). "Given to the OPCW by the Islamic Republic of Iran & unveiled by Irân’s Deputy Foreign Minister for International Affairs, H.E. Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh on first day of the 17th Session of the Conference of the States Parties. Represents a victim gradually losing his/her life from the effects of chemical weapons whose body is simultaneously converted into peace doves. Created by Taher Sheykh-ol-Hokamaii, instructor at the University of Tehran’s faculty of fine arts."