Israel and Iran have taken measures to safeguard their cultural property amid escalating hostilities between the neighboring countries, which has included air strikes on cosmopolitan centers.
Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organization has transferred museum artifacts across the country to secure storage locations and closed museums and heritage sites until further notice, according to local reports. On Friday, the beginning of Israel’s missile bombardment of Tehran, Iran’s deputy minister of cultural heritage, tourism and handicraft, Ali Darabi, told local media he had directed “custodians of artifacts” to follow crisis protocol, such as the relocation of “prominent” museum holdings. The following day, the Iranian culture ministry confirmed that the transfer of all sensitive artifacts to secure storerooms had been completed.
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Iran is home to 28 UNESCO World Heritage sites and numerous internationally renowned art and culture institutions. Tehran, the capital of Iran, alone is host to the Iranian National Museum, which is the world’s largest repository of Persian archaeological and medieval visual art history. That museum complex spans two venues—the Museum of Ancient Iran and the Museum of the Islamic Era—that typically display calligraphy, pottery, and artworks that, in some cases, date back to 300,000 years ago. Also located in the capital is the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, whose collection counts significant works by Monet, Picasso, and more; and the Qajar-era Golestan Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2013.
On Monday, Israel ordered residents of Tehran’s District 3, home to several government ministries and some 300,000 people, to evacuate ahead of air strikes. Iran responded with a warning to Israeli citizens of cities including Haifa and Tel Aviv. The evacuation orders issued by Israel were reiterated on Tuesday by President Donald Trump, who called for the entire population of Tehran to flee the city.
Several Israeli art institutions also transferred valuable artworks and artifacts to protected spaces on Friday, following Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Tel Aviv. “We’re used to this,” said Suzanne Landau, director of Jerusalem’s Israel Museum, told Kan radio, according to the Times of Israel. Landau added that pieces on loan from other museums and collections have also been stored.
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art also initiated its wartime protocols early Friday morning, according to a museum spokesperson. This involved removing every artwork on display in the galleries to underground facilities. By late Friday, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art had both already closed, citing national security guidelines. Both institutions said they would close indefinitely.
On Monday, the Society for Iranian Archaeology, a non-governmental academic group dedicated to the care and study of Iran’s archaeological and cultural heritage, published a statement on Telegram condemning the military attacks on Iran and urging “all parties” to adhere to international humanitarian laws that constitute the intentional targeting and destructing of cultural property as war crimes. The organization called on UNESCO, Blue Shield, and ICOMOS to “closely monitor the situation” and initiate emergency measures to protect imperiled heritage sites.
“Cultural heritage is not only the patrimony of a single nation—it is a legacy shared by all humanity. Its destruction constitutes a profound assault on identity, memory, and the foundations of peace,” the statement said. “We call for immediate, coordinated international action to safeguard human life, protect cultural heritage, and defend the values of international law and shared humanity,” the statement said.
