As is common in a lot of countries, archaeological investigations are carried out on major construction sites prior to any construction groundworks commencing, to see if there is anything of interest which may need to be protected, removed or recorded. Such is the case for the proposed route of a new highway in Iran, referred to locally as the Kerman-Bandar Abbas Freeway, in the Hormuzgan Province.
     Some Palaeolithic sites have been identified and the Iranian Research Institute of Archaeology has proposed that the full length of the proposed road (130 kilometres) should be surveyed, with a site width of 2 kilometres. That equates to a staggering 260 square kilometres archaeological dig! The purpose of the investigations is to identify, study and protect anything that may be found within this area but no timescale was given to carry this out.

Edited from Islamic Republic News Agency (10 January 2018)