Iran (IMNA) - The Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts announced the successful completion of this critical mission on the evening of Friday, June 14th, which involved transferring significant museum artifacts to high-security storage facilities.
This urgent action was prompted by unannounced Israeli airstrikes targeting multiple locations across Iran, which began on Thursday, June 13th. The extensive threat to Iran's cultural landscape necessitated this evacuation, as the country is home to approximately 840 museums, around 300 of which are directly managed by the Ministry. The potential for catastrophic loss of cultural heritage is immense.
Recent Israeli attacks on cities such as Isfahan, Khorramabad, and Kermanshah, known for their rich concentration of historical monuments and archaeological sites, have raised significant alarm among cultural heritage authorities. The continuation of these strikes places museums, ancient sites, and historical monuments at severe and immediate risk. Iranian officials have explicitly cited "profound distrust in Tel Aviv’s adherence to wartime regulations" as the reason for these emergency measures, highlighting that UNESCO classifies deliberate assaults on cultural heritage as war crimes.
The evacuation focused solely on artifacts designated as "high-priority protected items." While these select treasures are now secured in maximum-security facilities, the majority of museum and cultural heritage sites remain vulnerable and face immediate danger as Israeli attacks reportedly extend to non-military targets across the country.
The Israeli strikes on Iran now pose a direct threat to millennia-old Persian heritage, exacerbating existing environmental risks. Protecting these sites requires urgent global action, treating cultural heritage as a non-negotiable pillar of human dignity.
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