The Oil Ministry welcomed a proposal by Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization to organize tours to some of the country's oilfields already off limits for public visitors, ICHHTO's director for museum affairs said.
"The Ministry of Oil has voiced readiness to host tours to some of its oilfields, which have been closed to visitors so far… The idea was first raised by us and it will definitely become operational as early as the beginning of the next Iranian year [March 21, 2019]," Mohammad Reza Kargar said in an interview with IRNA on Wednesday.
"We have talked to some travel agencies and tour guides and they are visiting the sites to assess the necessary arrangements for the tours."
The tours could include visits to the oldest berth in the port city of Bandar Abbas, natural oil springs in the southwestern city of Masjed Soleyman and the old, out-of-service oil equipment, Kargar said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the official said oil museums will soon be launched in the oil-rich cities of Ahvaz and Abadan.
He had earlier called for cooperation from other organizations to help ICHHTO's cause of developing specialized museums, invoking the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (2016-21) that recommends government bodies set up museums to preserve their heritage and raise public awareness about their field of activity.
"We should move on from the mentality that views ICHHTO as the sole organization responsible for creating museums. For example, the Education Ministry can take advantage of museums to facilitate better learning," Kargar said.
"All the people and organizations deal in some way with issues that could be preserved and promoted via museum exhibitions."
