TEHRAN - The centuries-old art of soap making in Ashtian, a city in west-central Iran, has been registered on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

“No chemicals are used in the production of Ashtian’s traditional soaps and they are entirely made from animal fat in a completely natural and organic process,” ISNA quoted a local official as saying on Monday.

The soap is famous as a souvenir of Ashtian and the craft goes down in history from some half a millennium, the report added.

The city lies in a fertile agricultural district, dominantly watered by qanats and surface streams.

AFM/MQ/MG