TEHRAN, March 24. /TASS/. UNESCO is ready to send an expert team to Iran to evaluate the condition of World Heritage sites that were damaged in US and Israeli attacks, the WANA news agency reported.

According to its information, the decision was made after receiving reports of damage to Iranian sites resulting from the escalation of the conflict. The inspection of the historical monuments will be conducted in cooperation with Iranian authorities and the country’s National Commission for UNESCO, WANA noted.

Earlier, UNESCO reported that it had received reports of damage to several World Heritage sites in Iran: the Golestan Palace, the Chehel Sotoon Palace, the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan, as well as buildings in a museum complex near the Khorramabad Valley's prehistoric sites buffer zone.

The UN agency also expressed serious concern regarding the safety of heritage sites in the conflict zone and reported that it had provided the geographical coordinates of the sites at risk to all parties involved. According to UNESCO, a total of 18 countries are at risk due to the escalation of the Middle East conflict, with 125 natural or cultural heritage sites located on their territories currently under threat.

The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint US-Israeli attack.