WHO reports over 20 strikes on Iran health facilities since early March amid Israeli-US attacks
Health infrastructure in Iran has suffered significant damage during the Israel-US war on Iran, with the WHO confirming multiple incidents affecting hospitals, staff and treatment.
The World Health Organization (WHO) chief said early on Friday that Iran saw over 20 attacks on its health care since early March amid US and Israeli attacks on the country.
"Since 1 March, 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," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on US social media platform X.
Ghebreyesus noted that multiple attacks on health care had been reported in Tehran in recent days, targeting the Pasteur Institute, Delaram Sina Psychiatric Hospital and the Tofigh Daru pharmaceutical facility.
"The conflict in Iran, and the region, is impacting the delivery of health services and the safety of health workers, patients, and civilians present at health facilities. Peace is the best medicine," Ghebreyesus added.
Another US-Israeli attack on Tuesday hit one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Iran, Tofigh Daru, which produces anaesthetics and cancer drugs, according to the Iranian government.
Tedros said the Delaram Sina Psychiatric Hospital had also sustained significant damage last Sunday.
The high-end private Gandhi Hospital in northwest Tehran had its windows blown out in the first days of the war, while the WHO's office in Tehran was also damaged at the start of the week.
Threatening to turn the country back to the ‘Stone Age’
US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran "back to the Stone Ages", despite international law prohibiting the targeting of civilian infrastructure.
Healthcare facilities are protected locations under the Geneva Conventions agreed as the rules of war by world powers after World War II.
According to the latest figures from the Iranian Red Crescent, 307 health, medical and emergency care facilities have been damaged in the war.
Israel repeatedly attacked hospitals in Gaza during its two-year bombardment of the territory from October 2023, claiming they were being used by operatives from the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, claiming the country was rushing towards developing a nuclear weapon, which Tehran has denied.