WHO warns about attacks on Iran health facilities, regional threat

The World Health Organisation warned on Friday about "multiple attacks on health" in Iran, following an air strike on a facility in Tehran, and launched an urgent appeal to aid health systems affected in the wider region.

"Multiple attacks on health have been reported in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in recent days amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X.

He said the Pasteur Institute, a public health and research centre in the capital, "sustained significant damage and was rendered unable to continue delivering health services" - one of 20 facilities the WHO has confirmed as being targeted.

Iranian health ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour posted pictures on X on Thursday showing a heavily damaged building, with parts of the facility reduced to rubble.

The aggression against Pasteur Institute of Iran—a century-old pillar of global health & member of International Pasteur Network—is a direct assault on international health security. This violates Geneva Conventions & IHL principles. We call on @WHO @ICRC & global health bodies… pic.twitter.com/80mv8qgcnq

— حسین کرمانپور Hossein.Kermanpour (@HKermanpour) April 2, 2026