IFLA joins international organisations including Blue Shield International, ICOM, ICOMOS, UNESCO and many more in concern over recent threats by the President of the United States of America specifically targeting, among other locations, sites of cultural importance in Iran.  

IFLA is a founding member of Blue Shield International, which was created in part to uphold the 1954 Hague Convention (Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict) and to identify and protect cultural sites in the event of armed conflict.

Blue Shield International released a Statement on potential specific targeting of cultural sites in Iran to voice their grave concern over President Trump naming cultural sites among targets in the event that Iran reacts to the killing of General Qasem Soleimani. The intentional targeting of cultural and religious sites (that are not legitimate military objectives and have no imperative military necessity), is prohibited specifically, under any circumstances, in international humanitarian law.

IFLA fully supports Blue Shield International’s call to remove the threat on cultural heritage sites in Iran and joins much of the international community in affirming the vital importance of the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict.

Read Blue Shield International’s full statement here.