Thirty Iranian Heritage Groups Seek Int’l Protection for Historic Sites

TEHRAN — A coalition of 30
Iranian cultural heritage organizations has called on international bodies, including UNESCO, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to take urgent action following damage to 132 historical and cultural sites during recent U.S.-Israeli terrorist war.
In a joint statement addressed to the UN secretary-general, UNESCO, the ICC, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), Blue Shield International and the International Committee of the Red Cross, the coalition described the destruction as “a systematic attack on humanity’s collective memory.”
The organizations said that, based on documentation from Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, media reports and field observations by heritage specialists, military attacks between Feb. 28 and April 8, 2026, caused serious damage to 132 historical sites across 18 provinces.
According to the statement, Tehran Province recorded damage to more than 60 heritage sites, followed by Isfahan with 23, while Khuzestan and Kurdistan each reported damage to 13 sites.
Among the affected landmarks were several UNESCO World Heritage properties, including Golestan Palace in Tehran and Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan.
Other damaged monuments listed by the coalition include Chehel Sotoun Palace, the Shah Mosque (Masjed-e Abbasi), Tehran’s Azadi Tower, Sepahsalar Mosque, the Tomb of Baba Taher, Falak-ol-Aflak Fortress, Safiabad Palace and the archaeological site of Kuh-e Khajeh.
Citing the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its protocols, the coalition stated that cultural heritage enjoys protected status under international law.
“Cultural property enjoys complete immunity, and deliberately targeting it constitutes a war crime,” the statement said.
The coalition also cited the destruction of the Art Research Institute of Iran’s Academy of Arts, a building designed in 1931 by Russian architect Nikolai Markov and once home to renowned Iranian surgeon Professor Yahya Adl.
According to the statement, the institute “had no military function” and was destroyed by a rocket strike, which the coalition said represented “a clear violation of the principle of distinction” under

the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions and the 1999 Second Protocol to the Hague Convention.

The statement also referred to damage to the Rafizadeh Synagogue and the destruction of historic Torah scrolls, describing the incident as a violation of Article 8 of the Rome Statute and UN Security Council Resolution 2347 concerning the protection of cultural heritage during armed conflict.

The coalition called for six immediate measures by international organizations, including the deployment of independent assessment missions to document the damage, the establishment of a legal mechanism to provide compensation for reconstruction, activation of UNESCO’s Heritage Emergency Fund, support for documenting oral histories related to the conflict, implementation of Blue Shield International protection protocols, and stronger international efforts to prevent the illicit trafficking of cultural objects originating from damaged sites.

“The destruction of cultural heritage is not merely damage to monuments; it is an attempt to erase humanity’s collective memory,” the coalition said.

The organizations warned that “silence in the face of such destruction is incompatible with the fundamental principles of human rights and international conventions for the protection of cultural heritage,” urging the international community to fulfill what they described as its legal and moral responsibilities.

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Thirty Iranian Heritage Groups Seek Int’l Protection for Historic Sites