Shafaq News- Baghdad

Several foreign archaeological missions have canceled plans to visit Iraq due to regional tensions and security concerns, Ali Obaid Shalgam, head of Iraq’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, told Shafaq News on Friday.

Shalgam said security conditions have kept excavation teams from entering the country and expressed hope that fieldwork will resume when conditions improve.

In May, he revealed that around 60 international missions had been unable to reach Iraq since the regional escalation involving the US, Israel, and Iran began on Feb. 28, leading to the cancellation or postponement of surveys and other work at multiple sites. The disruption has also restricted Iraqi archaeologists’ access to specialized training at home and abroad, much of it provided by international experts, slowing the development of local expertise.

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