Built by the the Safavid Dynasty in the 1650s as a dam and a bridge, Mehrdad asks how the Khaju (or Khajoo) Bridge in Iran can be restored more sustainably.
Eventually all historical monuments and treasures will need preservation and renovation, like the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, but this should always be done with regards to the original aesthetics, sound engineering and sustainability practices in mind. In some cases it has been observed that poor renovation can cause bad reputation for a monument or even cause damage to some parts of it. This is exactly what happened to the Babylon Palace in the time of governance of Saddam Hossein in Iraq.
An Iranian example of this phenomenon is the renovation of Khajoo Bridge in Esfahan, a city about 340 km south of Tehran. The renovation was started in 2009 by the Iranian Organization of Cultural Heritage and it is still going on. Some experts and cultural activists believe that the method of the renovation can cause serious damage to the structure of the bridge in the long run. The work is being done using of cement instead of the original lime, which was used between the stones in the historic construction. The use of cement is in definite contrast to the sustainable restoration of the monument that was built by natural materials.
Learn how to reduce the carbon footprint of your wedding with tips from eco-Muslim Rianne ten Veen. 
Fights over rights to a natural gas field between Israel and the Hezbollah, has gone to the higher powers at the UN. 
Although dust could fill up the Gulf in the next 20-40 years, according to scientists, at the moment it feeds the food chain. [image via 
The Jewish holiday Tisha B’Av starts tonight. It gives one license to be sad over the state of the environment. 
America gives more than half a million dollars to Israeli and Palestinian water researchers to clean water in the West Bank. 
Our weekly series looking at the Middle East Arabic blogosphere. This week: Iraq. And a green blog that began after Saddam Hussein’s demise. 
This blog is a personal blog written in Arabic by Alaa Kamel Alwan (left), an Iraqi engineer. In 
A tourist soaks up the Egyptian sun. The Middle East is getting hotter, like the rest of the world, but when is too hot, too much?
Does your skin sometimes feel as cracked and scaly as this? Well there are some natural “mask” solutions, naturally. 
Green Prophet’s Merhdad, explores some of the “urban” issues in giving the ancient 500 year old Bazaar of Tehran, sustainable by design, a modern facelift. Plans in a new $20 million budget call for bike paths, trams, and a strengthened infrastructure for Tehran’s beating heart. 
The heart of Tehran then, and now: The Tehran Grand Bazaar, circa 1873. Via 