United Nations — American and Israeli Strikes on Iran At least four cultural and historical sites were destroyed, including palaces and an ancient mosque, raising alarm about the impact of the earthquake. The expanding war On protected monuments that are important to Iranian identity and world history.
The speed and extent of the damage has so alarmed Iran and Lebanon that they sent a request to the UN culture agency, UNESCO, this week to add more sites to its enhanced protection list.
UNESCO confirmed that it had verified damage to the stately Qajar-era Golestan Palace in Tehran, as well as the 17th-century Chehel Sotun Palace and the Jami Mosque, the oldest Friday mosque in the country, both located in Isfahan. Damage to buildings near the Khorramabad Valley, which includes five prehistoric caves and one rock shelter that provides evidence of human occupation dating back to 63,000 BC, was also investigated.
At Golestan Palace, shattered glass from mirrored ceilings covered floors along with broken arches, smashed windows and damaged moldings strewn beneath glass mosaic walls, according to an Associated Press video taken on March 3.
UNESCO said it had provided all parties to the conflict with geographic coordinates of heritage sites well in advance, “to take all possible precautions to avoid damage.”
The impact on cultural sites was not isolated to Iran; It was felt throughout the Middle East and beyondwith UNESCO tracking damage to the White City in Israel and Tire in Lebanon and elsewhere.
Collateral damage to such places has been part of the fabric of war for decades, including conflicts between Russia and Ukraine as well as Israel and Hamas, where dozens of sites have been damaged or destroyed.
“What is happening is clear to everyone: in these increasingly modern conflicts, it is civilians who pay the price, it is civilian infrastructure that pays the price, and we have all witnessed the destruction of priceless historical heritage,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said this week.
Human rights advocates echo this sentiment, warning that the Iran war has not only killed more than 1,000 people, but has upended the institutions and historic places on which societies depend.
“It causes harm to civilians because it damages or destroys part of their history that could be important to the world but also to a particular region or community,” said Bonnie Docherty, senior arms researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It undermines the kind of shared community identity, which is often important for bringing people together.”
Arash Azizi, who grew up in Iran before moving to the United States as an adult, said that because his family couldn’t afford to travel abroad when he was a child, they visited historical sites around the country. He says this is how he learned about his cultural identity and history.
“In times when school children are being killed, when human life is at stake, when the stakes are so high, people might think: What is a pair of broken tiles or broken glass?” the 38-year-old New York resident said.
“I think this is the wrong attitude,” he added. “We need cultural context. We need to know who we are, where we come from, and what it all means?”
For Shabnam Amdadi, a 35-year-old Iranian-American who also lives in New York, the damage to the Safavid-era Chehel Sotoun Palace in Isfahan is a deeply personal matter. She traveled there with her father a few years before his death.
“Those trips he took to Iran were my fondest memories of him when he was at his happiest, feeling at home and alive, and I will never forget them,” Amdadi said. “That is why, when I see every day the damage to these sites that represent the core of my memories, I feel as if I am also losing a part of myself.”
It was not clear whether the American or Israeli strikes caused the damage. The Pentagon made no comment. The Israeli military said it was “unaware” of allegations of damage to UNESCO sites.
One of the non-profit organizations pointed to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying last week that the US approach to the war would not include “dumb rules of engagement.”
“This is a very important statement because these rules of engagement are what embody international humanitarian law, which is not just the protection of cultural heritage, but the entire civilian population and civilian facilities, including your hospitals, your schools, etc.,” said Patti Gerstenblith, president of the US Blue Shield Committee, an international organization dedicated to protecting heritage in conflict, disaster and crisis situations.
The affected sites are among nearly 30 Iranian sites designated as under special protection as part of UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Other highlights on the list include the Great Wall of China, the Egyptian Pyramids, the Taj Mahal and the Statue of Liberty.
The Agency’s World Heritage Committee annually designates sites considered to be of “outstanding value to humanity” and intervenes when sites are at risk of destruction or damage. The program provides countries with technical assistance and professional training to maintain sites.
The Trump administration announced last July that it would do so again Withdrawal from UNESCO Because it is far from the United States From some international organizations.
The White House cited similar concerns as it did in 2018, saying it believed US involvement was not in its national interest. The agency was accused of promoting anti-Israel rhetoric. The decision will not take effect until December.
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Associated Press writer Giovanna Del Orto in Minneapolis contributed to this report.