In the early hours of June 30, 2026, the commentary and translation account Lingshi Xiantan (Consular Chatter) republished an in-depth Reuters investigation. Based on reporters' field visits to Isfahan, Tehran, and other locations in Iran, the report systematically documented the damage inflicted on Iran's cultural heritage by US–Israeli air strikes. Reuters reporters observed 11 historic buildings that had been damaged — among them World Heritage sites protected under UNESCO's international treaties.
Reuters' on-the-ground investigation confirmed that during the US–Israeli "Operation Epic Fury" against Iran, at least 11 historic buildings were damaged, including the Naqsh-e Jahan Square complex in Isfahan (a World Heritage site), the Chehel Sotoun Palace, and the Golestan Palace in Tehran (a World Heritage site). UNESCO has verified damage to seven sites inside Iran, and the Iranian government has submitted to UNESCO a damage list covering 134 cultural-heritage properties.
Isfahan — Cracks in a Cultural Jewel
Isfahan is one of Iran's most celebrated cultural cities, comparable to Rome, Athens, or Kyoto. Naqsh-e Jahan Square — roughly the size of 14 football pitches — is one of Isfahan's three UNESCO World Heritage sites. Yet in two air strikes on March 7 and March 9, the ancient buildings surrounding the square sustained clear structural damage.
The first blow came on March 7. An Israeli bomb struck an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) position roughly one kilometer from the square. The shockwave, traveling at nearly 20 times the speed of sound, shook the ancient domes and minarets of Naqsh-e Jahan Square. Two days later, on March 9, a fresh round of shelling targeting the governor's mansion once again rattled the square and the adjacent Chehel Sotoun Palace complex — the governor's mansion lies barely 200 meters from Imam Square.
When the explosion struck, Rasul Mousavi, a security guard at the Museum of Decorative Arts, was working overtime. Most of the museum's windows were blown out, the ceiling of the main hall collapsed, and the building's structural frame was left exposed. Fragments of plaster and glass lay scattered around the vividly colored mannequins dressed in traditional Iranian clothing. The top floor of the governor's mansion was all but leveled.
Iran's preliminary assessment of the Ali Qapu Palace showed that more than 70% of its window and door glass was shattered, and that the stucco of two porticos had separated from the main structure. Isfahan's heritage-management authority confirmed that the bombing had caused structural damage to the foundations of the square's buildings.
Tehran — Mirrors and Shards at the Golestan Palace
In Tehran, the Golestan Palace — a centuries-old royal complex just steps from the old bazaar — was likewise spared nothing. On the night of March 1, US–Israeli forces struck the judicial building adjacent to the palace. The shockwave shattered the palace's wooden artworks and shook the mirrors from its ceilings.
After the blast, an archaeological conservator who had worked in the palace for nearly 30 years broke down as she described the scene: "When I came in, I was terrified — I just stood frozen in the middle of a wall of glass." The Hall of Mirrors had become an ocean of glass — moments before, exquisite mirror-work had adorned the room's walls, ceilings, and columns. Reuters reporters stepped carefully over the glittering shards scattered across the floor.
UNESCO has expressed "concern" over the damage to the Golestan Palace.
Reuters' field visits confirmed that the Golestan Palace and the bazaar in Tehran, along with four sites around Isfahan's Naqsh-e Jahan Square and the Chehel Sotoun Palace complex, had all been damaged. The Center for Ancient Middle Eastern Landscapes at the University of Chicago further confirmed damage to Isfahan's Jameh Mosque and to the Andimeshk railway station along the Trans-Iranian Railway.
Source: Lingshi Xiantan (Consular Chatter) · 2026-06-30 00:38, compiled from Reuters reporting
The Collapse of the Cultural-Heritage Protection Framework
The Reuters report laid bare a troubling institutional reality: the 1954 Hague Convention explicitly requires the protection of cultural heritage during armed conflict, and deliberately attacking protected cultural property is considered a war crime under international law. Yet in this war, that framework has all but collapsed.
UNESCO said that no one consulted it either before or during the outbreak of the war. The organization shared the coordinates of significant sites with "all parties to the conflict," but the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded by acknowledging the strike on the governor's mansion while claiming that its operations "comply with international law and target only military objectives." Although the mansion sits next to a World Heritage complex, Israel's position was that military necessity takes precedence over cultural protection.
The Erosion of US Cultural-Protection Policy
The report's most striking institutional observation came from several archaeology and cultural-conservation experts. They noted that, compared with two decades ago, US targeting choices and priorities have clearly drifted away from the protection of internationally recognized historic landmarks. In 2003, when US forces established a military base on the site of ancient Babylon and the Baghdad museum was looted, the episodes drew widespread condemnation and prompted the Pentagon to re-examine its policies on protecting cultural sites. Yet in 2026, the protective force of the "no-strike list" is being eroded.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has largely dismissed the rules of military engagement, vowing to show the enemy "no mercy." Trump, for his part, warned in April that if Iran did not agree to end the conflict, "an entire civilization will perish." Neither man directly mentioned cultural-heritage sites. Wes Bryant, a former US Air Force targeting expert, pointed out that historic landmarks are usually placed on a "no-strike list," and that striking targets near such sites requires both a strong military justification and senior approval — sometimes even White House sign-off. Yet those procedural safeguards appear to have been bypassed under the directive of "no mercy."
Reuters noted that in nearly two decades of wars fought by the United States and its allies in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Afghanistan, there is no documented case of a cultural-heritage site on UNESCO's then-current list being deliberately damaged by coalition strikes. In 2026, that record was broken. Experts argue that, absent enforcement mechanisms, the framework of international law struggles to place meaningful constraints on the military actions of great powers.
A Triple Loss — Material, Economic, and Symbolic
Reuters reporters' field visits revealed a war's triple loss.
The material dimension. Beyond the 11 confirmed damaged historic buildings, the damage list Iran submitted to UNESCO covers 134 cultural-heritage properties. These sites are not only Iran's most popular tourist attractions but part of humanity's shared cultural memory. Exquisitely crafted palaces built four centuries ago may take years — even decades — to have their glass and tile work restored.
The economic dimension. A war's shockwave reaches far beyond the blast radius of its bombs. A silver-engraving artisan in Isfahan's bazaar said the economic consequences of lost tourism revenue are as devastating as shattered windows or property damage: "This war has paralyzed us." When Reuters reporters visited in late March, the bazaar's main lanes were nearly deserted. Isfahan's tourism economy — one of the city's lifelines — is slowly being drained by the war.
The symbolic dimension. Perhaps the most resonant detail in the Reuters report came from that unnamed archaeological conservator at Tehran's Golestan Palace. When the bomb detonated at the downtown judicial building, it was not only the palace's ceilings that took the shock. The conservator described a destruction that even her trained eye could not fully assess — she refused to lead reporters into the palace's third section, because "that area is off-limits; it borders the government building that was attacked." As she hurried the reporters out, she pointed at the ceiling and said: "The ceiling could come down at any moment."
That sentence describes both a physical structure and the state of institutional trust.