The United Nations has reported that more than three million people have been displaced in Iran since the United States and Israel launched a war against the country late last month, raising concerns over a worsening humanitarian crisis. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stated on Thursday that as many as 3.2 million people – representing between 600,000 and one million Iranian households – have been forcibly displaced since the conflict began on February 28.
UNHCR official Ayaki Ito said in a statement that most of the displaced are reportedly fleeing from Tehran and other major urban areas towards the north of the country and rural areas to seek safety. Ito warned that this figure is likely to continue rising as hostilities persist, marking a worrying escalation in humanitarian needs.
The US and Israeli militaries have continued to bombard Iran despite mounting international condemnation and calls for de-escalation. According to the latest figures from Iranian officials, more than 1,300 people have been killed in US-Israeli attacks across the country to date. While the US and Israel have claimed they are targeting Iranian leaders as well as military and nuclear infrastructure, Iran says thousands of civilian sites, such as schools and hospitals, have been attacked.
Iran’s Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian told Al Jazeera on Thursday that medical teams have been responding to a growing number of casualties as strikes on urban areas have intensified in recent days. Jafarian emphasized that most of the victims are civilians, adding that more than 30 hospitals and health facilities have been damaged due to the attacks.
On Thursday, explosions were heard in several parts of the capital, Tehran, and other Iranian cities as the strikes continued. Al Jazeera’s correspondent Tohid Asadi reported that rescuers were digging through mounds of rubble after several multistorey apartment buildings were heavily damaged in recent attacks on a hard-hit eastern neighbourhood of Tehran. Asadi described the situation as far beyond disastrous, with bodies being extracted from the debris.
Iran has responded to the US-Israeli assault by launching a barrage of missiles and drones at US bases and other sites in countries across the wider Middle East region. It has also shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a critical Gulf waterway through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil transits, raising serious concerns of disruptions to global energy supplies and highlighting the broader geopolitical tensions.
Source: www.aljazeera.com