US and Israel Impose Strict Regulations on Iranian Medicines and Vaccines

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has appealed to international health organizations to respond to attacks on medical facilities in Iran. The Pasteur Institute in Tehran, a key centre for medical research, was targeted on Thursday. According to Iranian officials, at least 2,076 people have been killed and 26,500 wounded in Iran since the US and Israel launched strikes on February 28.

The Iranian president wrote on X: “What message does attacking hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and the Pasteur Institute convey?” Pezeshkian is a heart surgeon by profession. The World Health Organization (WHO), Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and physicians worldwide have been urged to respond to this incident.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei described the attack on the Pasteur Institute as “heartbreaking, cruel, despicable, and utterly outrageous”. He stated that the institute was founded in 1920 through an agreement between the Pasteur Institute of Paris and the Iranian government. The institute conducts research on infectious diseases, produces vaccines and biological products, and provides advanced diagnostics.

The WHO’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote on X: “The conflict in Iran is impacting the delivery of health services and the safety of health workers, patients, and civilians present at health facilities.” Since March 1, the WHO has verified over 20 attacks on healthcare facilities in Iran, resulting in at least nine deaths.

Other medical facilities targeted by US and Israeli strikes include a Red Crescent relief warehouse in Bushehr province, which was damaged but no casualties reported. A pharmaceutical company in Tehran was also hit on March 31, with no confirmed casualty numbers reported. Additionally, a hospital in Tehran suffered significant damage during an attack on March 29, with approximately 30 patients present at the time.

The Pasteur Institute of Iran is one of several healthcare facilities to be targeted by US and Israeli strikes. The institute was founded over 100 years ago and has played a central role in fighting endemic diseases such as smallpox and cholera.

Source: Al Jazeera