How the war has damaged Iran’s historic sites.

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How 5 weeks of war shattered some of Iran’s cherished monuments

 
Residents inspect the damage to a house in Shahkot Village, Neelum Valley, Pakistani Kashmir.

Debris scattered across a staircase inside a building at the Sa’dabad Cultural and Historical Complex. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

In March, before the ceasefire in the war on Iran, Reuters journalists were granted rare access to Iranian heritage sites damaged during the five-week US and Israeli air campaign.

They documented damage at 11 historic buildings, including Tehran's Golestan Palace and bazaar, four sites at Isfahan's Naqsh-e Jahan Square and the Chehel Sotoun complex.

UNESCO says it has verified damage at seven sites in Iran, including two on its international list. In two decades of ground and air warfare by the United States 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.

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