Someone once said, “A message needs to be written if it is to be shared.”

And this is certainly true of two recent publications launched jointly by the Tehran Peace Museum at the HozehHonari in Tehran on April 13th 2015.

Mr. HedayatollahBehboodi’sJourney to the Burnt Island - Hiroshima Diariesand Mr. Hamid Hesam’sJourney Recounted by Coughs - a Hiroshima Traveloguewere launched at this special event conducted by renowned Iranian actor, Mr. ParvizParastoui. These two books are the culmination of the authors’ reflections after they visited Hiroshima in 2012 and 2013 as part of a delegation from the Tehran Peace Museum.

The Tehran Peace Museum is now the new home to the Children’s Wishing Tree for Peace after its role was finished in the stage play, “Tistou of the Green Thumbs.”

“Tistou of the Green Thumbs,” which ran for 32 nights at the Honar Hall, was written by Mr. Ramin Kohan and Ms. Bahar Taheri, and based on the novel of the same title by French author, Maurice Druon.  Renowned translator, Ms. Lili Golestan, translated the book into Persian. The play, directed by Mr. Kohan, was performed specifically for children to follow Tistou’s journey to end all wars and find peace.  

In developing the theme of world peace, the theatre created a Children’s Wishing Tree.  After each performance, children were invited to write messages of peace on the tree’s green leaves.

On Wednesday 8 April 2005, the Tehran Peace Museum was honoured to welcome visiting members from Germany from the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW).

Psychotherapist, Dr. Nesmil Kasumlu and Professor Mohssen Massarat from the IPPNW’s scientific advisory board were given a tour of the museum and were introduced to the TPM’s peace activities and initiatives.  During their visit, Dr. Kasumlu and Professor Massarat had the opportunity to meet and speak with chemical weapons survivors from the Iran-Iraq War, who volunteer as guides at the museum.

To see the pictures of this event click here.

Two Iranian children have been honoured by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum for their entries in the museum’s 29th Children’s Peace Drawing Competition.

Eight-year-old Yas Rostampour Kakroodi won the Distinction Hiroshima Mayor’s prize and 12 year old Helieh Dehnari was won the Award of Honor.

To celebrate the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace on April 6th 2015, a friendly chess game took place at the Tehran Peace Museum.

Chess grandmaster, Shadi Paridar and Kazem Moghadas, a war veteran and volunteer guide at the TPM, sat down to play a game of chess in the spirit of peace and friendship.

Cheered on by an enthusiastic group of spectators, the two friends played an exciting game of chess, and the final result ended in a draw.

This week, on April 6th 2015, the TPM held a joint celebration to observe the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action and Sport for Development and Peace.

War veterans, athletes and members of a number of federations gathered at the peace museum to discuss peace in relation to these two special occasions.  Participants spoke about the connection between sport and peace and how international events, such as the Olympic games, nurture international understanding and peace.  A discussion also took place about how war in this world can seriously affect such sporting events.

To see the pictures of this event click here.

Tehran Peace Museum Declaration

As the years pass by, the seed of hope grows steadily in the heart of Halabja, reflecting the strength and spirit of life.

It was 27 years ago, during the last days of winter, that the chaos of war changed the course of Halabja’s history.  White and gray gas exploded and spreaded the elixir of death throughout the city.

First came the skin burns.  Then the breathing slowed down.  Then it stopped.  Women and children stared ahead – unseeing – at the seeds in the ground.

The Tehran Peace Museum regrets to announce the passing of friend and volunteer, Mr. Jahanshah Sadeghi. Mr. Sadeghi died of respiratory failure due to late toxic effects of Mustard Gas, on Monday March 16th in his hometown of Harsin, Kermanshah. He will be sadly missed by all of us here at the museum.

Please click to read more to read Jahanshah's obituary

The famous Iranian filmmaker, Ebrahim Hatamikia, visited the Tehran Peace Museum on Sunday 15 March 2015.

During his two-hour visit, Mr. Hatamikia more familiarized himself with the consequences of chemical weapons used against Iranian soldiers and civilians during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).  He was overwhelmed by the presence of so many chemical weapons survivors volunteering at the museum and listened to them courageously sharing their experiences.

Mr. Hatamikia was deeply interested in the culture of peace promoted at the Tehran Peace Museum and was impressed by the number of peace education and outreach activities driven by the museum.

To see the photos of this visit please click here.

On 5th March 2015, the Austrian actress, Maxi Blaha held a performance in Tehran Peace Museum about the life and work of the first female Nobel Peace Prize winner, Bertha von Suttner.
In this monologue which was directed by Mr. Alexander Hauer and accompanied by Mr. Georg Buxhofer as musician, Ms. Blaha presented different stages of Ms. Suttner’s life from youth to the day she won the Noble Peace Prize.

“I didn’t know about Bertha myself,” said Ms. Blaha to the audience after her performance, “until I read her book, Lay Down Your Arms!”

Concerned about the Islamophobia stirred up by the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Iran’s Supreme Leader, His Excellency, Ayatollah Khamenei chose to address young people in the West and North America about the misunderstandings surrounding the Muslim faith.

In this welcome effort to reach out to young people overseas, the Supreme Leader urged today’s Western youth not to be trapped by the prejudices of the international media.  In his statement, the Ayatollah made two direct requests to the world’s young population.

“Hence my first request is,” His Excellency stated, “study and research the incentives behind this widespread tarnishing of the image of Islam.”

The Council of Promoting a Culture of Peace for Children held a Writing Skills and Techniques on Writing Institutional and Organization Reports at the Tehran Peace Museum on January 28th, 2015.

The objectives of the workshop – conducted by Mr. KhakiNejad – were to assist in empowering the representatives of a large number of local NGOs in presenting a variety of reporting styles, methods and the techniques required for editing.

The participants were engaged in practical writing exercises as well as the opportunity to express their understanding through an interactive role-play session.  During the role-play exercises, members of the group simulated a peace seminar.

This was a follow-up workshop to the first session held at Hosseinie Ershad on October 15th, 2014.

“Bad Chemistry, Toxic Horror, and Haunting Consequences”, an article on Tehran Peace Museum and the Chemical War against Iran published in WAMM Newsletter. In this article by Margaret Sarfejooy who visited Tehran Peace Museum in 2014, you can read about Tehran Peace Museum’s different activities, as well as Chemical war against Iran during Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). The role of Western countries, especially U.S.A. in supporting Saddam and the Chemical and Biological weapons’ stockpile of U.S.A is also discussed in this article too.
To read the article online Please click here and to download the newsletter please click here.

The Tehran Peace Museum was honoured to receive both Professor Vappu Taipale and Professor Ilkka Taipale from Finland on Monday January 19th, 2015.  His Excellency, Harri Kamarainen, the Ambassador of Finland to Tehran, accompanied the professors as well as representatives from the Iran-Finland Friendship Association (IFFA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Taipales are both distinguished psychiatrists and have dedicated years of service to Finland as parliamentarians and social activists. Dr. Vappu Taipale is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and her husband, Dr. Ilkaa Taipale is a social psychiatrist closely involved in supporting the homeless, prisoners and the unemployed.
To see the pictures of this event click here.

The second “Peace Counts” workshop was held in Tehran Peace Museum on January 7th. In this workshop in which some of the volunteers of “The Council of Promoting the Culture of Peace for Children” were present, the participants learnt about different definitions of peace and the conflict escalation.
The Council of Promoting the Culture of Peace for Children is consisted of different NGOs including TPM which work to promote the culture of peace with a focus on working for the children.

To see the photos of this event, please click here.

The first “Peace Counts” workshop was held in Tehran Peace Museum on December 22nd. In this workshop in which 12 Iranians and Afghan interns and staff of NICCO were present, the participants learnt about different definitions of peace and the conflict escalation.
NICCO is a Japanese based NGO which presents humanitarian aids to different groups of people.

To see the photos of this event, please click here.

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.