US–Israel Attack Damages Historic Site in Iran

Tehran – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei condemned the latest strike by the United States and Israel against Golestan Palace in Tehran, calling it a war crime in plain terms. In a post on his official X account, Baqaei said that the missile strike on the historic Arg Square complex in Tehran had damaged Golestan Palace. The palace is one of the most enduring symbols of the Iranian capital and a UNESCO World Heritage site. He described the attack as a heinous crime aimed at erasing Iran’s cultural heritage, the cradle of ancient history and civilisation. He asserted that the attack breached various international laws, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1977, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and well-established international judicial precedents. Baqaei emphasised that any deliberate attack by the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran’s historic sites and cultural heritage constitutes a stark breach of international humanitarian law and an undeniable war crime.