I am going back to Iran next week for work and saw this tentative site. According to the coordinates it is located in Isfahan (which I will visit), but does anybody know which places will be part of this TWHS? I can't find it in the description

Well that has been quite an interesting "search".

First of all these T List suggestions don't emerge ex nihilo - there are usually some papers from before hand.
a, This one about Industrial Heritage in Iran -"Reunderstanding Critical Circumstances of Industrial Heritage of Iran " was presented as recently as May 2018. It show that Iran is thinking about preserving its Industrial heritage and covers a number of different industries - including Textiles. It also mentions Railways which perhaps explains the appearance of the Trans Iran railway on the T List. It specifically refers to the Textile T List entry but without any real detail - "Furthermore, the project of Industrial Heritage of textile in the central Plateau of Iran. The project is the first registered Iranian Industrial Heritage in Unesco, the significant architecture ,combination of Iranian traditional and climatic architectural needs by local material"
b. It does however also include a photo of and reference to a "Jobe (traditional clothes) house" in Isfahan. So far, I have been unable to find out where that might be. But that could be one source to follow up?
c. Another Article (this time from Dec 2017 refers to a Cotton Factory in Isfahan which is to be turned into a museum - the "Risbaf Facory" . The article provides its address, describes its significance and also mentions another cotton factory in Isfahan - now gone? Here is another article from as long ago as 2005 indicating that Isfahan intended to try to preserve its factories -specifically mentioning the Risbaf.
c . Finally this from 2017 is the best description of the Risbaf I have been able to find. It appears to be a "fine building" and would indeed seem to be a likely possibility as a part of this T List site ( whose UNESCO entry indicates that it might contain multiple elements). The "project" however would seem to be in an early stage - so plenty of chances for it to fail or be delayed. Also, from the photos of the interior in the previous article it looks as if the interior is likely to be closed?? So - only worth seeing if you can easily pick it up "en passant" in Isfahan which has so much else to see!!!!

Hi Joyce,

Risbaf in Isfahan is a tricky one. You can see the building from the road, but you won't get any further than the gateway. There is a guard there who won't let you in. The site belongs to the national bank, of which there is a branch next door, but despite talking to the manager (I speak Farsi) and calling the head office of the bank, they refused to let me onto the site. Bureaucracy seems to reign there.

A much better bet is some of the early industrial complexes in Yazd. The Saadat factory is being renovated so may also be hard to get into (I was there on an Iranian weekend so gates shut and no-one around), but you may have more luck at the Jonub factory which is next door to the museum of Mirrors and Lighting on Kashani Road - unfortunately I ran out of time and my partner isn't as keen on my UNESCO-hunting as I (plus it was our honeymoon).

Please let us know how you get on.

Hi ersy
So -
a. is it your understanding that early 20th C factories like Risbaf ARE what this T List site is about - the UNESCO T List description is completely opaque
b. How many and which factories should we identify as being potentially included in any possible future nomination - just the 1 in Isfahan plus the 2 your mention in Yazd? Any others and any other places??? Can you identify the coordinates so we can update our T List map?
c. Do you know anything about any progress on this T List for future nomination. It seems that it has been overtaken by the Iranian Railway nomination for Iran's first "Industrial" nomination. That and the poor state of Risbaf might suggest that it has a long way to go yet. I guess that recent events re sanctions etc are not helping Iran's economy and the financing of any actions to bring these sites to Nomination!

Hi Solivagant,
In answer to your questions:
a) yes I think so. The people at the bank in Esfahan were clueless, but a lady at an independent tourist info in Yazd seemed to intimate that the sites mentioned were somehow related.
b) How many more there are I've got no idea (unfortunately I have no contacts in the Iranian heritage "industry" yet), so not much help there. The Saadat factory's coordinates are 31°54'20.3"N 54°22'30.0"E and Jonub textile is 31°51'31.0"N 54°22'49.4"E
c) Again, I'm not really able to shed much light here. But I'm personally surprised at the railway site being at the forefront of Iran's tentative nominations, as I think there are plenty of stronger candidates out there, such as the various mountain villages (Masouleh, Uramanat and Abyaneh), the Sassanid bridges, the Imam Reza complex, and Ecbatana to name but a few.

It does seem that Yazd has significance in this matter and could be trying to pursue it alongside Isfahan ! This article lists (with photos) 8 Textile factories in Yazd being considered for conservation and use for tourism purposes. It does NOT however specifically mention Yazd as being involved in this T List entry. This list includes the 2 you mention. The article identifies some of the architectural features which might be cited to help with OUV etc -
"Although the spatial organization of these buildings was influenced by the industrial production method based on modern technology; traditional Iranian architecture could be recognized from their forms and spaces." (Followed by detailed examples) - the sort of thing which should "play well" in any nomination!!!!
I have asked my "contact" in Yazd tourism if he knows anything more about them and the T List site generally.

By the way - how did you find out about these sites in order to inform your "sightseeing" in Isfahan/Yazd? They are not exactly well publicised, either in UNESCO or in tourism literature!!!

I've added these 2 to our map

Wasn't there a coordinate in Isfahan????
Rather stupidly when I set off to investigate jocevs question this morning I failed to check the coordinates as she indicated that they didn't indicate where the site was.
In fact the coordinates on the UNESCO web site point EXACTLY to the Risbaf factory (But Google doesn't give its name only "Cotton Factories") and I think should be left in with that as location title -
Risbaf Cotton Factory - 32.638641, 51.668326
Next to the bank as indicated by ersy!
In fact the UNESCO Web site, whilst not mentioning any specific location DOES indicate that 3 provinces are involved - Isfahan, Yazd and Kerman.
So - we have 2 of them with 3 factories - what can we find about Cotton Factories in Kerman (City and/or Province?)??? I have failed to do so - perhaps ersy has some information???

Oops, I deleted it. Thought we had more accurate replacements! Maybe we have it somewhere still

You have it above in my post

FOUND SOMETHING re Kerman!!!
The National Library in Kerman is housed in a former Textile Factory. See Wikivoyage
It certainly seems more ornate than your usual textile factory!!! See this. and this which dates the factory to 1930.
Its coordinates are
Kerman National Library (former Khorshid textile factory.) 30.293842, 57.066503

Seems a reasonable site to meet the UNESCO statement that the T List site included one in Kerman???

Ha ha, the coordinate of Risbaf that was on here was a start, but then a good amount of time on Google Maps satellite view, and then just asking around on the ground once I was out there (like I said, luckily communication was not a problem).

Well done on finding that. Looks absolutely gorgeous, and am a little annoyed I didn't stop by when I was in Kerman back in 2011. Ah well, gives me another reason to go back.