More than 20 attacks on Iranian healthcare facilities since March 1: WHO 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned against US-Israeli attacks on Iranian health facilities amid the ongoing war, following attacks on one of the oldest research and health facilities in Tehran, the Pasteur Institute.

In a post on X, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “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 pictures on X on Thursday showing a heavily damaged building, with parts of the facility reduced to rubble.

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.

“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,” it wrote on the Telegram app.

Tedros said 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, in what appears to be a widening of their targets beyond military, security and political sites that were struck in the early weeks of the war.

The WHO chief said that the Delaram Sina Psychiatric Hospital and the Tofigh Daru pharmaceutical facility were damaged due to attacks, but no casualties were reported.

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 said.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Mehr news agency, citing the Red Crescent, reported an attack on a laser and plasma research facility at Shaid Beheshti University.

And the Red Crescent Society said on X that a warehouse belonging to the organisation had been targeted, which had destroyed “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 said.

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.