The World Health Organization has verified 13 attacks on health facilities in Iran and is probing additional claims that four healthcare workers were killed and 25 wounded. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted large displacement, with roughly 100,000 people leaving Iran and more than 60,000 displaced in Lebanon. WHO’s current verification attributes three deaths to the 13 attacks in Iran (with no verified injuries) and confirms three attacks in Lebanon that caused three deaths and six injuries. The agency also said its Dubai logistics hub is temporarily out of service, and the Red Cross reported three staff injured in Iran since Feb. 28.
WHO Confirms 13 Attacks on Health Sites in Iran, Investigates Claims of Further Casualties
A logo is pictured outside a building of the World Health Organization (WHO) during an executive board meeting on update on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Geneva, Switzerland, April 6, 2021. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
GENEVA, March 5 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday it has verified 13 attacks on health infrastructure in Iran and is investigating separate claims that four healthcare workers were killed and 25 others were wounded amid a broader U.S.-Israeli campaign.
"An estimated 100,000 people have left Iran and in Lebanon, more than 60,000 people have been displaced," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters, while not assigning blame for the incidents.
Dr. Hanan Balkhy, speaking at the same briefing, said Iranian authorities reported that four ambulances had been affected and that hospitals and other health sites sustained minor damage from nearby strikes. She added that one hospital in Tehran was evacuated as a precaution, according to the U.N. health agency.
A WHO spokesperson told Reuters: "As of now, for Iran we have verified 13 attacks on health care, resulting in 3 deaths and no verified injuries. For Lebanon, we have now verified three attacks resulting in three deaths and six injuries." These figures reflect the agency's current, verified incidents to date; WHO continues to investigate additional claims of casualties.
Iran's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva wrote to WHO Director-General Tedros earlier this week alleging that 10 facilities had been struck by military action.
Balkhy also reported that the WHO logistics hub in Dubai, which supplies medical goods to dozens of countries, is temporarily out of service because of transport restrictions affecting the region. That disruption could hinder deliveries of essential health supplies to affected areas.
Separately, a spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Thursday that three of its staff had been injured in military attacks in Iran since Feb. 28.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh and Emma Farge; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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