Cultural rights, as an integral part of fundamental human rights, occupy a significant position in the legal system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the government is constitutionally obliged to protect and promote them. Nevertheless, in practice, due to the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms and the broad interpretation of immunity granted to sovereign acts, cultural and moral damages often remain uncompensated. Article 12 of the Civil Liability Act of 1960, without distinguishing among different types of sovereign acts and their varying impacts on cultural rights, exempts the government from civil liability upon the fulfillment of certain conditions, thereby facilitating the infringement of citizens’ cultural rights.

Using a descriptive–analytical method and library-based sources, this study examines the jurisprudential and legal foundations of the government’s civil liability for cultural damages. The findings indicate that, based on well-established jurisprudential rules such as the no-harm principle (lā ḍarar), causation, and liability for destruction, absolute governmental immunity from compensating cultural damages lacks jurisprudential justification. Accordingly, in cases of negligence, fault, or misuse of the concept of sovereign acts, the government, alongside the direct perpetrator or causal agent, bears civil liability for compensation. Moreover, the widespread nature and predominantly moral character of cultural damages, together with the limited capacity of individuals or the private sector to provide compensation, further necessitate governmental civil liability.

The study concludes that moving from immunity for sovereign acts toward obligating the government to compensate cultural and moral damages is both necessary and consistent with the principles of Imami jurisprudence and the objectives of cultural rights.