UNESCO asks US, Iran to protect cultural sites

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has asked Iran and the US to observe conventions obliging states to protect cultural sites after President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iranian culturally important locations.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has asked Iran and the US to observe conventions obliging states to protect cultural sites after President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iranian culturally important locations. According to Xinhua, Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, met Ahmad Jalali, ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on Monday and discussed tensions in the Middle East.

Azoulay stressed "the universality of cultural and natural heritage as vectors of peace and dialogue between peoples", which the international community has a duty to protect and preserve for future generations. Trump said on Twitter Saturday that the U.S. had identified 52 sites, including some important to the Iranian culture, that his administration would target if Iran strikes American assets in retaliation for the U.S. strike that killed the top Iranian general in Iraq last Thursday.

The middle eastern region is engulfed in crisis after Iran's senior military commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in a strike conducted by the United States. Infuriated by the killing of Soleimani, Iran has vowed to take revenge. The US has also threatened to retaliate. (ANI)

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