Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Heritage reported that Israeli airstrikes had caused significant damage to culturally important buildings in Isfahan, a city renowned for its historic Islamic architecture.
Ali Qapu Palace, Chehel Sotoun, and the Jameh Mosque were among the structures hit. Iranian authorities said the buildings had been flying blue flags to signal their protected status under the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property.
Hours before the Isfahan strikes, the third-century Shapur Khast castle in western Iran suffered structural damage from nearby bombing. The castle, dating back to the Sasanian Empire, is considered one of the oldest fortifications in the region.
WHO Raises Alarm on Environmental Damage
The World Health Organization issued a detailed warning about the environmental consequences of coalition attacks on oil infrastructure. Strikes on fuel depots near Tehran earlier in March had caused what residents described as “black clouds” and contaminated rain falling over the capital.
The WHO said the environmental effects could have severe health consequences for children, older people, and anyone with pre-existing respiratory conditions. Burning oil infrastructure releases a cocktail of toxic pollutants including sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds.
Iran’s Environmental Protection Organization, normally focused on domestic pollution issues, said it lacked the capacity to assess the full scale of damage while strikes continued daily.
40,000 Civilian Buildings Damaged
The Iranian Red Crescent Society said more than 40,000 civilian buildings had been damaged in the first two and a half weeks of the war. The figure included 10,000 homes in Tehran alone. The organization had received over 70,000 calls from people seeking mental health support, guidance, and counseling.
Medical facilities remained under pressure. With 260 health centers damaged or destroyed, hospitals in Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz reported being overwhelmed with casualties while struggling with power outages and supply shortages.
The Cost of the Air Campaign
The war’s financial toll was staggering on both sides. U.S. military operations were costing approximately $2 billion per day. Iran’s economy, already weakened by decades of sanctions, was under severe additional strain. Inflation had reached its highest level since the Second World War, pushing basic food items beyond the reach of many families.
International humanitarian organizations warned that the combination of infrastructure destruction, supply chain disruption, and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz was creating conditions for a broader humanitarian crisis across the region.