TEHRAN—Darband mountaineer, one of the most famous and memorable urban statues in the Iranian capital, has been registered on the national list for cultural heritage.

On Wednesday, the registration certificate of the statue was unveiled during a ceremony held beside the three-meter bronze memorial. Tens of people, including urban and cultural heritage officials, and climbers, attended the event, IRNA reported.

Installed at a small square that ushers climbers and day tippers to a steep mountain terrain, the statue was built in memory of an officer who saved some foreign climbers after their plane crashed in the highlands decades ago.

Narratives say that a German paratrooper was initially dispatched to save them, but he stuck also to the rocks and then Sergeant Amir Shahghadami was chosen to save this group.

Shahghadami bravely rescued the entire group, reportedly receiving a medal of courage from then-U.S. President John F. Kennedy and being honored by the Iranian government at that time.

Due to gratitude for his brave operation, his statue was built in the middle of the square, located in the Darband neighborhood. 

The statue, located in Sarband Square, is typically a meeting place for friends to go for a vigorous early-morning hike or a casual stroll, grabbing some mouth-watering kabob or sour fruit leather along the way.

At 1,700 meters above sea level, Darband is a popular spot for mountaineers to start their hike to reach the central Alborz mountains. It’s fitting, then, that the most famous landmark in this area is of a mountaineer.

AFM