UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Fearing return to war, Iran conservationists shore up damaged heritage sites

Q1. Which of the following is the nodal Iranian agency that filed a formal complaint with UNESCO and is coordinating the post-conflict restoration of Golestan Palace and other damaged heritage properties in 2026?

  • A. Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance
  • B. Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts
  • C. Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Research Institute under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • D. Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution

Q2. As of 2026, how many properties of Iran are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List?

  • A. 24
  • B. 27
  • C. 29
  • D. 31

Q3. With reference to the 2026 conflict in West Asia, consider the following cultural properties: 1. Golestan Palace, Tehran 2. Sa'dabad Palace, Tehran 3. Old Senat Palace, Tehran 4. Persepolis, Fars Which of the above is/are correctly identified as cultural properties whose damage was confirmed by UNESCO during the 2026 hostilities?

  1. Golestan Palace, Tehran
  2. Sa'dabad Palace, Tehran
  3. Old Senat Palace, Tehran
  4. Persepolis, Fars
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q4. The mechanism of 'Enhanced Protection', which grants the highest level of international legal immunity from military attack to cultural property of the greatest importance to humanity, was introduced under which one of the following instruments?

  • A. The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
  • B. The First Protocol (1954) to the Hague Convention
  • C. The 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention
  • D. The Second Protocol (1999) to the 1954 Hague Convention