TEHRAN -- The modification of Isfahan’s Jahan-Nama Tower was completed without proper observation of the regulations set by UNESCO for the operation.

The Isfahan Governor’s Office and city officials had decided that the tower should be reduced by six meters, but it was finally reduced by eight meters, modification director Reza Dowlatyar told the Persian service of CHN on Thursday.

Last year, UNESCO determined that the height of the tower should be reduced by 12 meters on its eastern side and 24.48 meters on its western side.

Located west of Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Jahan-Nama Tower still spoils the horizontal view of the square containing a complex of monuments which was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.

During his visit to the modification operations of the Jahan-Nama Tower in May, UNESCO World Heritage Center director Francesco Bandarin had announced his satisfaction and said that the case could be used as a model for safeguarding world heritage sites in similar situations.

On July 13 during its 30th session in Vilnius, Lithuania, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee had asked Iranian officials to consider UNESCO’s regulations for the modification in consultation with local officials.

The modification must be completed by February 1, 2007; otherwise, Naqsh-e Jahan Square will be added to the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger.

In early March, Vice President and Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization director Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaii sent a letter to UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, saying that Iran was ready to implement the UNESCO regulations for the modification of the tower.

In addition, government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham had also previously emphasized that the tower should be modified according to the UNESCO regulations.

In June, the experts in charge of the modification of the Jahan-Nama Tower had warned that if the work continued, the tower would collapse.