UNESCO concerned as Iranian monuments damaged

UNESCO said it is deeply concerned about the fate of world heritage sites in Iran and across the region, after Tehran's Golestan palace, often compared to Versailles, and a historic mosque and palace in Isfahan were damaged in the war.

The United Nations' cultural agency urged all parties to protect the region's outstanding cultural sites, saying four of Iran's 29 world heritage sites had been damaged since the start of the US and Israeli war with Iran.

"UNESCO is deeply concerned by the first impact that the hostilities are already having on many world heritage sites," Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the World Heritage Centre, said, adding he was also concerned for sites in Israel, Lebanon and across the Middle East.

Photos of the interior of Tehran's Golestan palace have shown piles of smashed glass and shards of wood on the floor, and shattered woodwork.

Also reported to have been damaged is Isfahan's Masjed-e Jame, or Jameh Mosque, which is more than 1,000 years old.

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UNESCO has shared coordinates of key cultural sites to all parties, Eloundou Assomo said, and was monitoring damage.

"We are calling for the protection of all sites of cultural significance ... everything that tells the history of all the civilisations of the 18 countries in the region," he said.

Iranian media reported damage at the Chehel Sotoun Palace after an airstrike on the Isfahan Governor’s Office by the US and Israel on March 9. 

(Reuters)