Ancient Persian Bridge Destroyed by Islamic Regime

CAIS reports: Islamic Regime have Finally Destroyed 2200-year-old Parthian Bridge of Khoda-Afarid (Negin) December 8, 2007 LONDON, (CAIS) -- Islamic regime's authority have destroyed the remains of 2200-year-old Khoda-Afarid bridge also known as Negin, in Shiniyar district of Masjed-Soleyman in Khuzestan province. The destruction of the bridge was began in September under the guise of construction of a new bridge, and despite all the oppositions from cultural figures and the Iranian nation, the Khuzestan Governor office went ahead and removed the last stone of the ancient bridge. The ancient bridge of Khoda-Afarid (Xodā-āfarīd) which is known to local Bakhtiari population known as Negin, was one of the best preserved and intact bridges of its type remained in Iran-proper from Arsacid dynasty (248 BCE-224 CE). "The 60 meters in length was the best survived Parthian water engineering example in the country, which was demolished despite the 100-meter legal protection boundary, imposed by Khuzestan Province Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization [KCHTO]" said Mojtaba Gahstooni, the spokesman for the Khusestan’s Friends of the Cultural Heritage Association (Tariana) in September 2007. Since 1979 and the rise of Islamic regime to power, the ruling clerics have been devoted themselves to destroy and erase all the pre-Islamic Iranian culture and civilisation, under the guise of construction projects. Since then, the regime have destroyed large number of major cultural landmarks associated with the ancient Iranian civilisation.