'Years to build, a moment to destroy': US and Israeli air campaign devastates some of Iran's most cherished monuments

A first set of blast waves set ancient domes and minarets trembling around the most famous square in the ancient city of Isfahan. Another bombing in the city centre, two days later, blanketed the floors of a 400-year-old royal complex with shards of debris. Those Israeli airstrikes, on March 7 and 9, shook the monuments at Naqsh-e Jahan square and the Chehel Sotoun Palace, two of Iran’s most treasured cultural complexes. Two weeks later, plaster and broken tile still crunched underfoot in some places. A damaged building next to Isfahanâ’s Provincial Governor’s office near Chehel Sotoun Palace, a Unesco World Heritage site, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Isfahan, Iran, on March 23, 2026. — Reuters “These buildings were like part of us,” said Rasoul Mosavi, his head still bandaged in gauze from the injury he received in the explosion. He led Reuters journalists through the museum where he has worked as a security guard for 16 years. “This place is very dear to my heart.” From the roof, the intended target of the March 9 bomb was visible less than 200 metres away: the Isfahan governors’ building, which was partially destroyed but also apparently empty when it was struck. Damaged decorated wall inside the Chehel Sotoun Palace near Naqsh-i Jahan Square, a Unesco World Heritage site, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Isfahan, Iran, on March 23, 2026. — Reuters In March, before the ceasefire in the US-Israel war on Iran, Reuters journalists were granted rare access to the palace and Naqsh-e Jahan square and its surroundings, as well as two palaces in Tehran. They saw firsthand how the war has damaged Iran’s historic sites, including some protected under an international treaty administered by the UN cultural body Unesco. In all, Reuters journalists observed damage at 11 historic buildings. In addition, experts who track the war’s impact on world heritage sites said they confirmed damage at the Trans-Iranian Railway and Jameh Mosque in Isfahan, as well