Iranian Windmills for UNESCO Listing

Iran has proposed the registration of windmills on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, an expert with the provincial office of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization in South Khorasan said.

Considered as the world’s oldest mills, these are man’s first industrial apparatus set up in eastern Iran, CHTN also quoted Mohammad Ali Bozorgmehr as saying.

The windmills were used to produce wheat flour for making bread.

“The mills cranked up with the 120-day winds blowing through the region during the harvest season of grains (late April to late August)," he explained.

In the past, windmills were the main source of livelihood for the inhabitants of eastern Iran. They are prominent examples of traditional Iranian architecture using indigenous materials, sustainable methods of production and clean energy.

Bozorgmehr highlighted that South Khorasan, among other eastern regions of Iran, is of vital importance for employing the indigenous windmill technology.

"For instance, Tabas, a fertile plain and a major producer of cereals in South Khorasan, has a large number of windmills," he said.

Nehbandan, also in South Khorasan, has many windmills as it was an important juncture for merchants passing through it to go to India for trade.

Bozorgmehr said the windmills were needed to provide bread for caravans passing through Nehbandan.

However, the most famous windmill is located in Nashtifan in Khaf County of Khorasan Razavi, which is the largest of its kind.