'Years to build, a moment to destroy': US and Israeli air campaign devastates some of Iran's most cherished monuments

AI Summary

US and Israeli airstrikes in March 2026 severely damaged several of Iran's cultural heritage sites in Isfahan, including Naqsh-e Jahan square and Chehel Sotoun Palace. UNESCO has verified damage to seven sites, urging all parties in the conflict to respect international law and protect cultural property.

A first set of blast waves set ancient domes and minarets trembling around the most famous square in the ancient city of Isfahan. Another bombing in the city centre, two days later, blanketed the floors of a 400-year-old royal complex with shards of debris. Those Israeli airstrikes, on March 7 and 9, shook the monuments at Naqsh-e Jahan square and the Chehel Sotoun Palace, two of Iran’s most treasured cultural complexes. Two weeks later, plaster and broken tile still crunched underfoot in some places. A damaged building next to Isfahanâ’s Provincial Governor’s office near Chehel Sotoun Palace, a Unesco World Heritage site, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Isfahan, Iran, on March 23, 2026. — Reuters “These buildings were like part of us,” said Rasoul Mosavi, his head still bandaged in gauze from the injury he received in the explosion. He led Reuters journalists through the museum where he has worked as a security guard for 16 years. “This place is very dear to my heart.” From the roof, the intended target of the March 9 bomb was visible less than 200 metres away: the Isfahan governors’ building, which was partially destroyed but also apparently empty when it was struck. Damaged decorated wall inside the Chehel Sotoun Palace near Naqsh-i Jahan Square, a Unesco World Heritage site, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Isfahan, Iran, on March 23, 2026. — Reuters In March, before the ceasefire in the US-Israel war on Iran, Reuters journalists were granted rare access to the palace and Naqsh-e Jahan square and its surroundings, as well as two palaces in Tehran. They saw firsthand how the war has damaged Iran’s historic sites, including some protected under an international treaty administered by the UN cultural body Unesco. In all, Reuters journalists observed damage at 11 historic buildings. In addition, experts who track the war’s impact on world heritage sites said they confirmed damage at the Trans-Iranian Railway and Jameh Mosque in Isfahan, as well as an 1,800-year-old fortress near prehistoric caves settled by humans as long as 63,000 years ago. In two decades of ground and air warfare by the US and its allies in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan, Reuters could find no examples of damage to cultural heritage sites listed at the time by Unesco. Unesco hasn’t yet sent teams to the sites protected in its register, and has been limited to using satellite imagery to assess the damage. To date, Unesco says it has verified damage at seven sites in Iran, including two on its international list as well as four cultural properties of national importance and a religious site. Unesco told Reuters it was not consulted either before or during the war but shared coordinates of critical sites with all parties in the conflict. “Unesco calls all parties to conflicts to respect international law, including the protection of cultural property, and to take all necessary measures to prevent damage to cultural heritage,” the world body said. Ranging from shattered glass and broken tile to cracked walls and shaken foundations, the damage was mostly inflicted by bomb shock waves radiating out nearly 20 times faster than the speed of sound. Those waves can cause severe damage to structures nearly a kilometre away from the detonation itself, according to Wes Bryant, a former targeting specialist with the US Air Force. Broken glass panels on the ceiling inside the Hall of Mirrors (Talar-e Ayne) at Golestan Palace, a Unesco World Heritage site, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, on March 21, 2026. — Reuters The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) acknowledged targeting the governor’s office in Isfahan, which is adjacent to the Unesco-listed palace complex. It said it had also struck a base belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a little over a kilometre from the historic sites, on March 7. “The IDF operates in accordance with international law and targets military objectives only,” an IDF statement said. In general, the statement said, Israel’s strikes were “based on reliable intelligence, operational verification, established approval processes, and, where appropriate, legal review, and were carried out in accordance with applicable international law”. Reuters spoke to eight experts in Middle Eastern archaeology and preservation of heritage sites who said the reporting shows a clear shift in US targeting practices and priorities away from protecting internationally recognised historical landmarks. The shift comes two decades after widespread criticism of an American military base set up in the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the looting of the Baghdad Museum prompted the Pentagon to revamp its policies on protection of cultural sites. A damaged building is seen through a circular from the Golestan Palace, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran in Tehran, Iran, on March 21, 2026. — Reuters In recent wars, Bryant said, hist