Iran’s ancient cultural heritage are at risk of being damaged by US and Israeli bombs, historians and archaeologists have warned.
Mosques, museums and the only UNESCO-listed building in Tehran - the Golestan Palace - are in danger of being destroyed by US-Israeli airstrikes, experts specialising in the Middle East warned in a letter to The Times.
“We are deeply concerned not only about the humanitarian impact of the war in Iran, but also about reports of damage to that country’s cultural heritage,” the letter from experts at the British Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge University and the School of Oriental and African Studies stated.
Last month, a museum attached to the Falak-ol-Aflak Castle in the city of Khorramabad was completely destroyed, according to local officials. “All this is a loss for the cultural heritage of the world, not just for the people of Iran,” the authors said.
The United Nations' cultural agency revealed on 11 March that four of Iran's 29 world heritage sites have been affected since the hostilities began.
Earlier this month, the UN cultural organisation UNESCO, shared their concerns after damage was reported to Golestan Palace from a strike on March 2, which left the windows shattered and rubble in the ballrooms.
The Golestan Palace was home to the Qajar dynasty which ruled Iran from the end of the 18th century until 1925. The ancient site, often dubbed the “Versailles of Persia”, was built in the late 17th and 18th centuries and remodelled by the Qajar Shahs in the 19th century.
The palace was damaged by blast waves from a strike that hit the nearby Arag Square, according to UNESCO.
Another one of Iran’s most important cultural sites - the palace of Chehel Sotoun, was damaged. This was part of a 17th-century Safavid complex in Esfahan, and is part of the city’s picturesque Naqsh-e Jahan square, which is surrounded by mosques and palaces.
Ali Ansari, a professor of Iranian history at the University of St Andrews and president of the British Institute of Persian Studies, said it is uncertain how the international community would be able to help repair the damage in the future due to the war.
Several western museums and other institutions are working with archaeologists in the neighbouring country Iraq to try to repair some of the harm caused by years of destruction from Islamic State.
Mr Ansari said he hoped that some of Iran’s unique ancient sites, such as Persepolis, its capital in the times of the emperors Darius and Xerxes, would be protected from attacks.
“I would like to think the Americans and the Israelis have a little bit of a red alert there,” he said.
As the war escalates and death toll rises, concerns are also growing that the polluting effects of bombs will cause permanent environmental damage to the country.
In the first week of the war, Israel hit oil depots around the capital, Tehran, covering the city in a fog of noxious black fumes. This toxic gas can erode the exteriors of sensitive ancient sites.
“Damage to oil depots and refineries inevitably results in pollution that causes irreversible damage to sites such as Persepolis and Pasargadae and famous rock-reliefs such as Bisitun, Naqsh-e Rostam and Bishapur,” the letter’s authors say.
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