TEHRAN – Iranian authorities have launched the formal process to nationally register the site where 21 Iranians, particularly athletes from Lamerd County, were martyred, designating it as a historic “event site” on the country’s National Heritage List.
Behzad Moridi, director general of the Fars Department of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, announced on Friday that the Shahid Naeimi Sports Complex would be permanently preserved as a historic event site.
“The sports complex will be immortalized as a historic ‘event site’ on Iran’s National Heritage List,” Moridi said.
He said some geographical locations transcend their physical form and become part of a nation’s identity and a testament to its righteousness.
“The site where Lamerd’s champion athletes were martyred is the meeting point of the spirit of chivalry and self-sacrifice,” Moridi said. “Its national registration is a firm step toward safeguarding the values of the Sacred Defense and conveying to the world the injustice suffered by Iran.”
Moridi explained that, in cultural heritage terminology, an “event site” refers to locations whose significance lies not in the age of their structures but in the historic or epic event that occurred there. Registering the sports complex, he said, would firmly establish its place on the country’s heritage map as a living historical document.
He said national registration would provide legal protection for the site and prevent any change of land use or destruction within its boundaries and protected zone. It would also pave the way for the allocation of national funding to build a memorial, improve the site and transform it into a cultural center.
Moridi added that promoting resistance tourism and turning the site into a destination for Rahian-e Noor caravans are among the objectives of registering the Lamerd martyrs’ event site.
He said the move would also help officially document the enemy’s crimes for future generations and researchers of contemporary history.
According to Moridi, the specialized registration dossier and documentation for the event site are currently being prepared by Alireza Askari Chavardi, a distinguished faculty member at Shiraz University and a prominent archaeologist.
After the technical documentation is completed, the file will be submitted to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage in Tehran for approval

 by the Supreme Council for the Registration of National Heritage.
Moridi described the initiative as the least tribute that could be paid to the pure blood shed at Shahid Naeimi Sports Complex, saying it would ensure that the names of the young champions would forever shine in the annals of Iran’s history.
At 5 p.m. on the first day of the Third Imposed War, corresponding to Feb. 28, the residential township in Lamerd and the Shahid Naeimi Sports Complex came under an airstrike by the criminal U.S.-Zionist enemy.
The attack constituted a war crime in which four missiles carrying more than 180,000 tungsten pellets each were used against civilians, resulting in the martyrdom of 21 people and injuries to 170 others.
Among those martyred at the Shahid Naeimi Sports Complex were two girls, two boys and a sports coach.