On December 1st this year, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the City of The Hague presented its inaugural annual award to recognize outstanding achievement in advancing the objective of global chemical disarmament. This year’s joint recipients of the award were Dr. Robert Mathews from Australia and the Verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (VERIFIN) in recognition of their combined efforts to pioneer the Chemical Weapons Convention.

“Visiting the museum inspires me and everybody to do whatever we can for the war veterans.”

These are the words of renowned Iranian filmmaker, Abbas Kiarostami, who visited the Tehran Peace Museum on Tuesday 9 December 2014.

During his two-hour visit, Mr. Kiarostami familiarized himself with the consequences of chemical weapons used against Iranian soldiers and civilians during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).  The celebrated director was overwhelmed by the presence of so many chemical weapons survivors volunteering at the museum and listened to them courageously sharing their experiences.  He commented on the effectiveness of such a unique approach to inform visitors first-hand about the scourge of chemical weapons.

To see the photos of this visit please click here.

On Monday 8th December 2014, the Tehran Peace Museum was honored to welcome Dr. Jan Oberg to give a talk titled “Is a New Cold War Shaping? If Yes, Where Is the World ahead?” before the Museum’s regular open English discussion group’s session. The talk was followed by an informal dialogue and a lively question and answer session. The audiences were a group of interested individuals as well as the Tehran Peace Museum’s members and volunteers. One of the highlights of this session was the presence of Mr. Thore Vestby, the Mayor of Frogn, Norway and the vice-president of Mayors for Peace. 

Mr. Thore Vestby, the mayor of Frogn, Norway and the vice-president of Mayors for Peace, visited Tehran Peace Museum, on December 8th, 2014.  After visiting TPM, in a meeting in which some Iranian mayors and municipality representatives were present, Mr. Vestby said that he is impressed by the work TPM and also the efforts of Mayors for Peace secretariat which is located in TPM. He said that by the help of the Iran Embassy and the Mayor of Oslo, he is trying to build a bilateral cooperation between Iranian and Norwegian Mayors for Peace member cities. Mr. Vestby also stated that he believes some Iranian cities are qualified to be known as “Leading Cities” not only in Iran, but also in the region.

To see the pictures of this event click here.