Announcing this, director general of Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization+s Museums Division, Mohammad Hossein Farmahini said that given the designation of 2009 as the Year of Museum and Tourist by International Council of Museums (ICOM), the entity will work towards increasing the number of museums in the country.

Holding the seminar titled Museum Services is another program on the organization+s agenda to mark World Museums Day, he said in an IRNA report.

Farmahini pointed out that since museums attract a large number of domestic and foreign tourists, diverse programs have been drawn up.

Museums to be inaugurated on May 18 include Sea and Seafaring Museum in Bushehr, Handicrafts Museum in Lorestan, Yazdan-Panah Museum in Qom and Saltmen museums in Zanjan.