The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning regarding the threat to Iranian health facilities from US-Israeli attacks during the ongoing conflict, following assaults on one of Tehran's oldest research and health institutions, the Pasteur Institute. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in a post on X that "multiple attacks" on Iran's health facilities had been reported in Tehran, with the Pasteur Institute having "sustained significant damage and was rendered unable to continue delivering health services."
Iranian Ministry of Health spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour posted images on X on Thursday showing a heavily damaged building, with sections of the facility reduced to rubble. However, Iran's ISNA news agency reported that the "services of the Pasteur Institute of Iran have not been interrupted by these attacks," adding that vaccine and serum production would continue. In a message on the Telegram app, it was noted that "fortunately, none of the employees of the Pasteur Institute in Iran were harmed in the recent attacks by the United States and the Zionist regime."
Tedros emphasized that the Institute "plays an important role in protecting and promoting population health, including in emergencies." In recent days, US-Israeli strikes have targeted Iranian health, education, and transport infrastructure, which appears to mark a widening of their objectives beyond the military, security, and political sites struck in the early weeks of the war. The WHO chief reported that the Delaram Sina Psychiatric Hospital and the Tofigh Daru pharmaceutical facility were damaged due to attacks, but no casualties were recorded.
An explosion near the Imam Ali Hospital in Khuzestan province "led to the facility's evacuation and cessation of services," he added. "Since March 1, WHO has verified over 20 attacks on health care in Iran, resulting in at least nine deaths, including that of an infectious diseases health worker and a member of the Iranian Red Crescent Society," he stated. Meanwhile, Iran's Mehr news agency, citing the Red Crescent, reported an attack on a laser and plasma research facility at Shaid Beheshti University.
The Red Crescent Society said on X that a warehouse belonging to the organization had been targeted, destroying "two-wheeled relief containers and two buses and relief vehicles." "Communities on all sides are already paying a heavy price since the escalation of hostilities. Humanitarian workers, ambulances, relief supplies, and humanitarian facilities must be respected and protected," it stressed. Healthcare facilities are protected locations under the Geneva Conventions agreed after World War II. According to the Iranian Red Crescent, 307 health, medical, and emergency care facilities have been damaged in the war.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran "back to the Stone Ages," despite international law prohibiting the targeting of civilian infrastructure. These warnings amplify global concerns about the protection of medical infrastructure and violations of humanitarian law in wartime contexts.
Source: www.aljazeera.com