The Iranian Center for Archaeological Research (ICAR) is currently planning a rescue excavation project at the Seimareh Dam reservoir area in western Iran's Ilam Province. Forty areas in the region will be excavated by 40 archaeological teams during the project, considered to be Iran's largest rescue excavation operation, which will be carried out during the second half of the Iranian calendar year beginning on September 23.

During a series of rescue excavations in 2007, a team of archaeologists identified 100 ancient sites from various periods, including the Neolithic era, Bronze Age, Copper Age, and the Parthian, Sassanid, and early Islamic eras within the dam reservoir flood plain. About 100 ancient sites from various periods, including the Neolithic era, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, Copper Age, and the Parthian, Sassanid, and early Islamic eras have been identified a the dam's reservoir during previous seasons of rescue excavations in 2007. A great number of the sites will be flooded when the dam becomes operational.