More than 20 attacks on Iranian healthcare facilities have been verified by the World Health Organisation since March 1, resulting in at least nine deaths, including an infectious diseases worker and a member of the Iranian Red Crescent Society. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed the attacks in a post on X, citing damage to key institutions such as the Pasteur Institute in Tehran, which sustained significant structural harm and can no longer deliver health services. The Pasteur Institute, one of Iran's oldest research and medical facilities, was struck during a wave of US-Israeli strikes that have expanded to include health, education and transport infrastructure. Despite the damage, Iran's ISNA news agency stated that vaccine and serum production at the institute remains uninterrupted. Iranian Ministry of Health spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour shared images on X showing parts of the facility reduced to rubble. Tedros also reported damage to the Delaram Sina Psychiatric Hospital and the Tofigh Daru pharmaceutical facility, with no casualties in those incidents. An explosion near Imam Ali Hospital in Khuzestan province forced its full evacuation and halted operations. The Iranian Red Crescent confirmed that one of its warehouses was hit, destroying two-wheeled relief containers, buses and relief vehicles. The organisation also reported an attack on a laser and plasma research facility at Shahid Beheshti University. Tedros emphasized that healthcare facilities are protected under the Geneva Conventions, warning that attacks on such sites violate international law. Iran's Mehr news agency cited the Red Crescent in confirming the scale of damage across the health sector. US President Donald Trump has publicly threatened to bomb Iran "back to the Stone Ages," a statement that contradicts established humanitarian protections. The WHO continues to monitor the situation as hostilities escalate.
When Tedros states that over 20 health facilities have been hit since March 1, including the Pasteur Institute, that is not just a tally—it signals a calculated erosion of civilian safety norms. Trump's threat to bomb Iran "back to the Stone Ages" isn't mere rhetoric; it legitimizes the targeting of institutions essential to public survival. If research labs, hospitals and relief warehouses are now valid targets, then the Geneva Conventions are being openly discarded. This isn't escalation—it's the dismantling of the rules meant to contain war.
