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WHO chief slams attacks on Pasteur Institute, medical centers
Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has lashed out at the US and Israeli attacks against the Pasteur Institute and medical centers in Iran.
In a message republished by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on X (formerly, Twitter), he wrote, “Multiple attacks on health have been reported in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in recent days amid escalating conflict in the Middle East.”
“The Pasteur Institute in Iran sustained significant damage and was rendered unable to continue delivery health services,” he added.
Founded in 1920, he noted, the Pasteur Institute has been active in various fields of medical research for more than a century. It plays a significant role in protecting and promoting public health, including in emergencies. Two of its departments have also served as collaborating centers with the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO chief went on to say that the Delaram Sina Psychiatric Hospital suffered serious damage following an attack on March 29, and the Tofigh Daru Pharmaceutical Complex, which produces drugs needed to treat cancer and multiple sclerosis (MS), was damaged in another attack on March 31. No casualties were reported in these incidents.
Since March 1, the World Health Organization has confirmed more than 20 attacks on health centers in Iran, resulting in at least nine deaths, including an infectious disease worker and a member of the Iranian Red Crescent Society.
According to the director general, attacks on medical centers were not limited to Tehran and have also been reported outside the capital; for example, on March 21, an explosion near Imam Ali Hospital in Andimeshk County, Khuzestan Province, caused the evacuation of the facility and the suspension of its services.
“The conflicts in Iran and the region have affected the provision of medical services as well as the security of health workers, patients, and civilians in medical centers,” he concluded.
Spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Esmaeil Baqaei also strongly condemned the recent US-Israeli strike on the Pasteur Institute of Iran.
In a message posted on his X account on Thursday, Baqaei described the attack on one of the region’s oldest and most respected public health and research institutions as a deeply disturbing act, stressing that targeting such a facility goes beyond conventional wartime violations.
“Heartbreaking, cruel, despicable, and utterly outrageous… This is not merely another war crime committed as part of an illegal war; it is a barbaric assault on basic human core values,” the spokesman added.