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UNESCO Confirms Damage at Tehran’s Golestan Palace as Iran Reports Harm to Isfahan’s Chehel Sotoun

UNESCO is coordinating urgent assessments as regional hostilities put multiple World Heritage sites at risk.

Overview

  • UNESCO confirmed Golestan Palace was affected by a blast in its buffer zone, with shattered windows, damaged mirrorwork, and a call for immediate technical assessment and stabilization.
  • Iranian state media reported damage to the 17th‑century Chehel Sotoun Palace in Isfahan after a nearby strike on the provincial government office, sharing video of blown doors and broken windows that has not been independently verified.
  • Iran’s cultural heritage minister, Reza Salehi-Amiri, called the Golestan incident an attack on national identity and said a formal damage report will be submitted to UNESCO.
  • UNESCO has shared GPS coordinates of heritage sites with parties to the conflict and reiterated protections under the 1954 Hague Convention, highlighting the limited deterrent effect in active urban warfare.
  • Related damage has been reported across the region, including confirmed hits to Bauhaus-era buildings in Tel Aviv’s UNESCO-listed White City, while museums and authorities move artifacts to secure storage and temporarily close institutions.