UNESCO Warns Iran War Threatens World Heritage Sites, Schools and Media Across Middle East

The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO has warned that the escalating war across the Middle East is placing World Heritage sites, schools, media institutions and fragile ecosystems at growing risk, as the conflict spreads across multiple countries and continues to cause large-scale civilian casualties and displacement.

U.S.-Israeli strikes on Isfahan; Via: Assal Rad

In a statement issued as fighting intensifies across the region, UNESCO said it was “deeply concerned over the protection of education, culture, media and the environment amid the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East and beyond.”

The organisation said the situation has deteriorated rapidly since the outbreak of hostilities on February 28, warning that several sites of global cultural significance have already been affected.

“Since the outbreak of hostilities on 28 February, several sites of cultural significance, including the Golestan Palace in Iran, the White City of Tel Aviv in Israel, and Tyre in Lebanon, all inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, have been reported as impacted and damaged,” the agency said.

According to UNESCO, the war’s expanding geographic footprint means that cultural landmarks and heritage sites across the wider region could soon face similar risks.

“Several sites in other countries of the region and beyond are now under threat,” the organisation said, listing Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen among the areas where cultural heritage could be affected as tensions escalate.

Beyond physical monuments, UNESCO warned that the conflict is also endangering the institutions that sustain education, journalism and scientific cooperation across the region.

“Education personnel, students and infrastructures, as well as media and science facilities, are increasingly exposed to the consequences of the deteriorating security situation,” the organisation said, adding that the continuation of hostilities raises “serious concerns regarding the functioning of education systems, the safety of learning environments and the access to information.”

The agency also cautioned that environmental sites and fragile ecosystems could suffer long-term damage as military activity expands.

“Environmental sites and fragile ecosystems face heightened vulnerability as tensions and military activities intensify,” UNESCO said.

In response to the risks, UNESCO said it had been sharing the precise geographical coordinates of protected cultural sites with all parties involved in the conflict to reduce the risk of accidental or deliberate damage.

“UNESCO has communicated and will continue to communicate to all parties concerned the geographical coordinates of sites on the World Heritage List, the national Tentative Lists, as well as those under Enhanced Protection,” the organisation said, urging combatants to “take all feasible precautions to avoid damage.”

The agency also reminded governments and armed forces involved in the conflict that international law imposes clear obligations to protect cultural and educational institutions during wartime.

“UNESCO recalls all parties of their obligations to respect international law, notably the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, as well as the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage,” the statement said.

In addition, the organisation cited United Nations Security Council resolutions requiring the protection of schools, journalists and media workers during armed conflict.

“In accordance with its mandate and with United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1738 (2006), 2222 (2015) and 2601 (2021), UNESCO further recalls the obligations of all parties to protect schools, students and education personnel, as well as journalists, media professionals and associated personnel,” the agency said.

The organisation called for “maximum restraint and all necessary measures to spare education, culture, media, sciences and the environment,” warning that these sectors represent “the social foundations of societies” now at risk amid the intensifying conflict.

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