The residence of celebrated Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami has reportedly been damaged in recent airstrikes targeting the Chizar district of Tehran, as hostilities between Israel, the United States, and Iran continue to escalate.
According to social media posts by his son, Ahmad Kiarostami, the late director’s house was struck during a bombing raid late Tuesday night. The strikes hit multiple parts of the Iranian capital, triggering widespread blackouts across large sections of Tehran.
The offensive followed Israel’s announcement that it would target Iranian infrastructure amid the ongoing conflict, which began on February 28.
“Last night, the Chizar neighborhood was bombed, where both my mother’s and my father’s houses are located,” said Kiarostami. “Last night, my mother called and, in a shaky and broken voice, gave me news of her well-being, but this morning I learned that my father’s house was damaged.”
According to Deadline, no one was present inside the property at the time of the strike. The house has remained in the family since Kiarostami’s death in 2016 at the age of 76. His former wife, Parvin Amirgholi, who lives nearby in the same district, sustained minor damage to her home but was not injured.
Kiarostami, widely regarded as one of Iran’s most influential filmmakers, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 for Taste of Cherry. He is also known for the 2010 French drama Certified Copy, starring Juliette Binoche.
The latest strike comes amid growing concern over damage to cultural heritage sites in Iran. According to PBS, US and Israeli strikes since the onset of the conflict have affected at least four historically significant locations. These include Golestan Palace, Chehel Sotoun, and Masjed-e Jame, the country’s oldest Friday mosque.