Conflict takes toll on historical sites

Visitors walk through the damaged interiors of Golestan Palace in Tehran, Iran, on April 4. ATTA KENARE/AFP

With at least 130 historical sites in Iran damaged by United States-Israeli strikes and concerns also growing over Lebanon's cultural sites amid Israeli bombardment, Iranian artist Neda Zoghi says the attacks "surpass the conventional definition of collateral damage".

"When over 100 cultural heritage sites and museums sustain deliberate or negligent destruction in a matter of weeks, we are confronting something far more calculated — the systematic dismantling of a civilization's physical memory," said Zoghi, who holds a doctorate in Islamic art and is a civilization specialist at the Asia West East Centre, a research center based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Seyed Reza Salehi-Amiri said at least 131 historical and civilizational monuments across 20 Iranian provinces were damaged during attacks by the US and Israel, Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.