
A plume of smoke and a fragment of concrete rise from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the eastern outskirts of Tyre, in southern Lebanon, on March 24, 2026. Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war when Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader. Israel has since launched strikes across Lebanon, killing at least 1,039 people and displacing more than a million others, and sent ground troops into the country’s south. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)
US and Israeli strikes on Iran have damaged at least 120 culturally or historically significant sites across the country since the start of the war, the head of Tehran city council’s heritage committee said.
“At least 120 museums, historical buildings and cultural sites across various provinces were directly targeted and sustained serious structural damage,” said Ahmad Alavi.
He was quoted by state TV as naming UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace — sometimes likened to Versailles — as well as Tehran’s Marble Palace, Teymourtash house and Saadabad Palace.
One of the capital’s most visited sites, the Saadabad Palace complex includes an extensive park and museums dedicated to Iranian history.
In addition to the cultural institutions, it also houses the residences of the Iranian president and governor of Tehran province, with judicial and Revolutionary Guards facilities located nearby.
The United States and Israel launched their campaign against Iran on February 28, killing its supreme leader and setting off a war that has since embroiled practically all of the Middle East.
Iran, whose history spans several millennia, possesses significant cultural heritage that has largely been spared from mass tourism.
According to the UN, at least four of the country’s 29 UNESCO-listed sites have been damaged in the war: Golestan Palace, Chehel Sotoun Palace in Isfahan, the Masjed-e Jame mosque in the same city, and the prehistoric sites of the Khorramabad Valley.
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