TEHRAN –A number of millennia-old watermills in the Iranian city of Dezful, are in need of urgent restoration, an expert has said. Urgent restoration is imperative for about 25 Sassanid watermills that have been left unattended for years in the southwestern city, ISNA quoted Mohammad Azarkish as saying on Saturday. Because of their age and historical significance, these mills have been added to the national heritage list of Iran, requiring them to be taken care of uniquely and carefully, the expert explained. These water structures need to undergo constant restoration due to the yearly flood and the high intensity of river water during the early spring, which brings in damage, he added.Located in Khuzestan province, Dezful derives from two words: dezj (fortress) and pol (bridge), which combined means “bridge to the fortress.”Khuzestan is home to three UNESCO World Heritage sites, namely Susa, Tchogha Zanbil, and Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System yet it is a region of raw beauty where its visitors could spend weeks exploring.

The province is also a cradle for handicrafts and arts whose crafters inherited from their preceding generations.Lying at the head of the Persian Gulf and bordering Iraq on the west, Khuzestan was settled about 6000 BC by a people with affinities to the Sumerians, who came from the Zagros Mountains region.

Urban centers appeared there contemporaneous with the first cities in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium.

Khuzestan, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, came to constitute the heart of the Elamite kingdom, with Susa as its capital.ABU/AM