US-Israeli strikes in Tehran on Wednesday damaged a Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian Embassy in Iran has said, as the bombing campaign continues to have a devastating impact on civilians.
“Two missile strikes on the morning of April 1st in the immediate vicinity of St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Tehran caused damage to the main building and outbuildings (windows and doors were blown out),” the Russian Embassy said in a statement that included photos of the damage.
The strike was also recorded by the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a US-based, US-funded NGO that’s very critical of the Iranian government.
According to The Associated Press, the missile strike appeared to have targeted the nearby former US embassy compound in Tehran, from where the CIA coordinated the 1953 coup in Iran and where the hostage crisis started in 1979 following the Islamic Revolution that ousted the US-backed Shah. Part of the former embassy has been turned into a museum highlighting the US role in the coup, called the Den of Espionage Museum.
The Russian Embassy said that a Russian nursing home was also damaged, though there were no casualties in either building. “The adjacent Russian Nursing Home, where elderly residents still live, also sustained significant damage (including a collapsed roof). Thankfully, there were no casualties,” the embassy said.
“We note that St. Nicholas Cathedral was damaged during Lent and on the eve of Easter, one of the main religious holidays. Due to the military adventures of the United States and Israel, the Orthodox community in Iran is deprived of the opportunity to visit the cathedral,” the embassy added.
The incident highlights the small Christian population in Iran, which is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands. One Armenian Christian was reportedly killed by US-Israeli strikes on Isfahan, Iran, which killed a total of 26 people last week.
