The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday condemned attacks on healthcare facilities in Iran amid the ongoing war in the MiddleEast, pointing to the operational shutdown of the Pasteur Institute in Tehran.
Significant damage to this key healthcare institution was reported on Thursday by Iran’s Ministry of Health, which described the incident as a “direct attack on international health security.”
In a statement on social media platform X, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that several healthcare facilities in Iran’s capital have been targeted in recent days amid the heightened Middle East conflict.
The Pasteur Institute of Iran, a key member of the International Pasteur Network, has been unable to continue its medical operations, Tedros said.
The institute, founded in 1920, plays a critical role in medical research and public health, particularly in emergency situations.
According to Iran’s ISNA news agency, the production of vaccines and serums continues at the institution despite the damage inflicted, and none of the employees were harmed.
Separate airstrikes attributed to US and Israeli forces on Tuesday struck one of Iran’s largest pharmaceutical companies, which manufactures cancer medication and anaesthetics, the Iranian government reported.
The WHO head also confirmed that Delaram Sina Psychiatric Hospital sustained extensive damage on Sunday following an airstrike.
Medical facilities, protected under the Geneva Convention, are considered a “red line in international law,” with such attacks classified as war crimes, the WHO said on Friday in a statement posted on X.
The organisation further indicated that 307 healthcare and emergency medical centres have been damaged since the conflict began on 28 February with an Israeli-US offensive.
