Pezeshkian urges intl. action on US-Israeli bombing of Iran’s health centers

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Federation of Red Cross to take action against the US-Israeli attacks on hospitals and medical research facilities in Iran.

“What message does attacking hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and the Pasteur Institute as a medical research center in Iran convey?” Pezeshkian said in a post on X on Thursday.

“As a specialist physician, I urge WHO, the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and physicians worldwide to respond to this crime against humanity,” he added.

His remarks came as Pasteur Institute, one of the country’s oldest public health institutions, was targeted in a US-Israeli attack earlier in the day.

The Pasteur Institute of Iran is one of the century-old pillars of global health and a member of the international Pasteur network.

The institute is a research, production, service, and educational organization established with the goal of ensuring public health.

Throughout its century-long history, it has played a key role in controlling many infectious diseases both in the country and worldwide. Since 1920, this institute has been one of the pioneers and key hubs of vaccine production in the region.

US-Israeli missiles also struck another major pharmaceutical company, Tofigh Daru, in Tehran on Tuesday, completely destroying its raw material production units and its research and development unit.

Trump once again threatens to strike Iran's civilian infrastructure

Late on Thursday, US President Donald Trump threatened to strike and destroy bridges and electric power plants in Iran.

The US military "hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants," Trump wrote on social media, urging Tehran to give in to his demands.

His post claimed that Iran’s leadership “knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST!”

Dozens of international law experts in the US signed an open letter released earlier on Thursday warning that US attacks on Iran may amount to war crimes, as the 1949 Geneva Conventions on humanitarian conduct in war ban attacks on sites considered essential for civilians.

Also on Thursday, Trump boasted of the destruction of the B1 Bridge, which connects Tehran to the city of Karaj.

The bridge was hit in a “double tap” strike which left at least eight people killed and dozens others injured. The second strike occurred while emergency responders were still assisting victims of the first attack, escalating the humanitarian impact.

"The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again — Much more to follow!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the actions, stressing that such tactics would not force Iran to surrender.

"Striking civilian structures will not compel Iranians to back down," Araghchi wrote on X, adding, "Every bridge and building will be rebuilt stronger. What will never recover: damage to America’s standing."

The targeting of the bridge came hours after Trump threatened to bomb Iran "back to the Stone Age”.

"We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong," Trump said in his Wednesday address.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has stated that the US threats to “bomb Iran back to the Stone Age” amount to a clear war crime.

“The explicit threat to ‘bomb Iran back to the Stone Age’ and to destroy power plants—which are vital for the survival and livelihood of a nation—is a violent and unlawful threat whose primary aim is to instill fear and terror among the civilian population,” the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The Iranian statement cited international legal provisions, including the 1977 Additional Protocol I and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to support its argument that such threats qualify as war crimes.

The ministry slammed the US and Israel for violating legal, moral, and humanitarian norms, referring to attacks on civilian infrastructure including schools, hospitals, sports facilities, and cultural sites.

The statement cited strikes on a primary school in Minab and a stadium in Lamerd on the first day of the terrorist war as examples of “war crimes.”

It also noted that more than 600 educational institutions, as well as universities, research centers, healthcare facilities, and historical sites, have been targeted since the start of the US-Israeli aggression against Iran on February 28.

Iran further slammed the US and Israel for attacking industrial and production centers built over decades despite sanctions, describing the actions as part of a broader campaign against Iran’s development.

The ministry also criticized recent remarks by US officials, including threats to target Iran’s energy infrastructure, calling them evidence of “criminal intent” and potential acts of war crimes and genocide.
It said such rhetoric constitutes incitement under international law and urged all countries to condemn it.

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