Qasr-e Shirin

Qasr-e Shirin is a city in the Central District of Qasr-e Shirin County, Kermanshah province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Its population in 2016 was 18,473. It is a Free-trade zone (FTZ) and is populated by Kurds.

Etymology
The city is named after Shirin, the Christian wife of the Sasanian King of Kings (shahanshah) Khosrow II ((r. 590 – 628)).

Sassanid era
Historical and literary works attribute the building of the city to Khosrow Parviz of the Sassanids.

Iran-Iraq war (1980–1988)
Qasr-e-Shirin was a small town until 1270 AH. During the World War, it served as a border town for both German and Ottoman soldiers, as well as English and Russian soldiers. Qasr-e-Shirin underwent destruction during the Iran-Iraq war but was later restored following the war's end. Currently, the city has undergone significant expansion and transformed into a captivating and expansive region.

Postwar reconstruction-present
In 1992 the postwar reconstruction process began.

In June 2006, archaeological excavations in Shirin's castle resulted in the discovery of the dais of the castle which had been used as the seat of the king. The establishment of Qasr-e Shirin free trade-industrial zone was approved on 5 May 2021.

Climate
The city is known for its agricultural productivity due to rich soil and plentiful water from the Alwand River, which runs through the city. The weather is mild in winter but hot and dry during the summer. The results of research done in 2018 on determining the vulnerability of fish farmers to climate change in Qasr-e Shirin revealed that climate change had a major impact on fish loss, shortened production cycle, and lower fish production.

Dust storms in recent years have troubled people.

Demographics
At the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 15,437 in 3,893 households. The following census in 2011 counted 17,959 people in 4,751 households. The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 18,473 people in 5,473 households.

Language
The linguistic composition of the city:

Culture
Qasr-e Shirin anthropology museum was opened in August 2008. Because of a lack of staff its operation was later limited to the thirteen days of holiday during Newruz of every new year. It is one of the largest in Kermanshah province.

Agriculture
Qasr-e Shirin is especially known for its date palm trees and lemon. The agricultural organization of Qasr-e Shirin is building the biggest garden in the Middle East.

Border trade
Qasr-e Shirin has for long played an important economic role in the region. A large share of the country's exports to Iraq pass through the city, with its two main border terminals Parviz border and Khosravi. In the Iranian calendar year 1393 (21 March 2014 – 20 March 2015), commodities worth $1.9 billion were exported to Iraq through the border crossings of Qasr-e Shirin. There are trading companies active in doing exports to Iraq.

Established in 1997, Parviz border crossing (Persian: گذرگاه مرزی پرویز) is located to the northwest at 5 kilometers from the city center. The source of its name is a village by the same name on the Kurdish Iraq side of the border. About 50 percent of Iran’s non-oil products are being exported to Iraq via Parviz border crossing, a major land route for trade. On average, 800-1,200 trucks carrying Iranian goods pass the crossing and continue on to Iraq daily.

An average of 500 tankers import fuel from Iraq's Kurdistan region to Parviz border daily and return to Iraq after being discharged at Iran's southern ports. According to Yavar Mohammadi, one governor of the western Iranian city of Qasr-e Shirin, Parviz border crossing plays a significant role in the prosperity of the Iranian economy in general and Kermanshah province in particular. The border crossing has been named the most active trade checkpoint out of 86 crossings between Iran and Iraq. It has put thosands of Iranians to work. In the year March 2021 – 2022, exports to Iraq from this terminal stood at 2.53 million tons worth $1.02 billion.

Qasr-e Shirin and Khosravi
Qasr-e Shirin and Khosravi have many modern hotels and restaurants, with five three-star hotels and other two-star hotels, serving both pilgrims to Iraq's holy Shia shrines and tourists and businessmen visiting the city. Because of the Khosravi border closure from June 2013 to September 2019 to caravan pilgrims (upon whom the hospitality industry is heavily dependent), and again during the coronavirus pandemic, the industry experienced a recession.

Iran and Iraq reached an agreement to resume the regular dispatching of caravan pilgrims starting 21 November 2022 from Khosravi border crossing. Religious tourists from northern, northwestern and central Iranian provinces are to be dispatched to Iraq after spending one night at Qasr-e Shirin and Khosravi hotels. Hotels in the area include: Valiasr hotel has been changed into a pharmacy.
 * Kasra hotel
 * Arg hotel
 * Jowan hotel
 * Marmar hotel
 * Sahand hotel
 * Siavash hotel
 * Samen hotel in Khosravi
 * Imam Reza hotel in Khosravi
 * Abi Abdallah hotel in Khosravi

Parviz border crossing
Parviz border's passenger hall was inaugurated on 3 February 2015. Of all the common border crossings between Iran and Iraq, crossing the border using a private car is possible only through Parviz border crossing.

Roads
The main access road is the Kermanshah-Khosravi highway through the ring road. The other one is a two-lane road to Gilan-e Gharb. The resurfacing of 9 kilometers of this road with a 120 billion rial budget began in October 2022. It is an alternative route to Eslamabad-e Gharb and Kermanshah using the Ghalajeh tunnel. It also gives access to Ilam province after the small remaining part of miandar road in the Gilan-e Gharb-Eyvan route was paved in 2015 and made the distance to Ilam province around 40 Kms shorter through this road.

Rail
The city is near a railway route under construction called Rahahane Gharb (Iran west railway) planned to connect Iran to Iraqi railway system and ultimately to the Syrian Mediterranean port city of Latakia. Its construction is due to be completed by 1405 Iranian year through Kermanshah–Khosravi line. Qasr-e Shirin FTZ is considered the connecting point of Kermanshah railway to Baghdad railway.

Air
There is no airport serving the city. However after the approval of its free trade zone there have been calls for the urgency of the construction of a small scale airport in order for the FTZ to prosper. It would be the second airport in Kermanshah province. Kermanshah Airport which is the regional hub is the nearest airport.

Health systems
Hazrate Abolfazl Abbas is the hospital that serves the town and people from Iraq. It has 96 beds. Built in 1998 during the postwar reconstruction process, because of the lack of medical specialists it functioned at the level of a round the clock clinic until early January 2006 when some specialists joined and a few specialty wards were activated.

There is also a sanitation center and a 24-hour drugstore. Due to the city's two border crossings with Iraq and its proximity to several Iraqi cities it attracts and has the potential to attract Iraqi medical tourists. According to Sa’dollah Masudian, the Iranian consul general in Iraq's Sulaymaniyah Governorate in June 2018, each day 1500 visas are issued for Iraqi travelers to Iran at Iran's consulate in Sulaymaniyah, one third of which is dedicated for medical tourism.

International border crossings
There are two international border crossings. Parviz border crossing which is 5 kilometers away from the city center and borders the Kurdish region of Iraq and the much older Khosravi border crossing which is 18 kilometers away from the city on the way to Khanaqin and Baghdad in Iraq.

Higher education
The higher education center of Qasr-e Shirin which was an affiliate of Razi University was a public university in Qasr-e Shirin that was shut down in the first half of 2000s. Its buildings have been given to the following semi public and private universities:
 * Payam Noor university of Qasr-e Shirin opened in 2007
 * Islamic Azad university of Qasr-e Shirin opened in 2006 There are plans to build the international campus of Razi university in Qasr-e Shirin.