TEHRAN — Iran will honor eight scholars, specialists and veterans of cultural heritage at the fifth edition of its annual “Distinguished Cultural Heritage Figures” ceremony, part of an effort to recognize those whose work has helped preserve and transmit the country’s historical and cultural legacy.
The ceremony is scheduled for Monday, September 14, at the Sa’dabad Cultural-Historical Complex in Tehran, with senior officials, academics, artists and representatives of Iran’s cultural and media communities expected to attend.
Ali Darabi, Iran’s deputy minister for cultural heritage at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, said the event is intended to recognize the scientific, cultural and professional contributions of figures who have played a role in safeguarding, documenting, introducing and promoting Iran’s heritage.
Eight heritage figures from different fields will be recognized during this year’s ceremony, Darabi said. Their careers, he added, reflect decades of work in protecting cultural heritage, advancing specialist knowledge and passing Iranian cultural identity to younger generations.
The ceremony will also honor two prominent figures for their contributions to the preservation and expansion of the Persian language and culture, broadening the event’s focus 
beyond tangible and historical heritage to include Iran’s linguistic inheritance.
Darabi said the recognition of leading heritage figures should serve not simply as an occasion to celebrate their careers but as a means of transferring their knowledge and experience to younger generations. He described the initiative as a way to strengthen connections between different generations of researchers, specialists and others working in the heritage field.
The fifth ceremony follows four previous editions that have recognized 40 scholars, veterans and specialists in various areas of Iranian cultural heritage.
The inaugural ceremony, held in July 2022, honored 12 figures, including Muhammad-Reza Olya, Abdollah Jabal-Ameli, Hamideh Chubak, Ali-Akbar Saeedi, Muhammad-Hassan Semsar, Muhammad-Rahim Sarraf, the late Baqer Ayatollahzadeh Shirazi, Faeq Tohidi, Rajabali Labaf-Khaniki, Mehdi Mojabi, Muhammad-Hassan Moheb-Ali and Muhammad Mir- Shokrai.
Ten figures were recognized at the second edition in June 2023, followed by eight at the third edition in June 2024. The fourth ceremony, held in September 2025, honored 10 additional heritage specialists and scholars.