Since the start of the war, a senior Tehran cultural official said US and Israeli strikes have damaged at least 120 museums and cultural and historic sites nationwide.
Image: Atta Kenare / AFP
Iran's ambassador to Pakistan, which is mediating between Iran and the United States, said on Tuesday that efforts to end the war were approaching a "critical" stage.
"Positive and productive endeavours in Good Will and Good Office to stop the war is approaching a critical, sensitive stage," Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam wrote on X, without giving details.
The message came hours before a deadline set by US President Donald Trump for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping or face attacks on key infrastructure.
US-Israeli strikes early on Tuesday "completely destroyed" a synagogue in Tehran, Iran's Mehr news agency and the Shargh newspaper reported.
"According to preliminary information, the Rafi-Nia Synagogue... was completely destroyed in this morning's attacks," Shargh wrote.
Judaism is one of Iran's legally recognised minority religions, and the country has a small Jewish community, although many members fled in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution.
There are no publicly available official numbers, but there are thought to be a few thousand Jewish people in Iran.
Shargh called the synagogue "one of the most important places for Khorasan Jews to gather and celebrate", referring to the northeastern province of Iran.
Shia Islam is the majority religion in Iran, but the constitution recognises Sunni Islam, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity as minority sects, with each represented in parliament.
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