Health ministry condemns American aggression against vicinity of children’s cancer treatment hospital in Ahvaz

The Ministry of Health and Environment condemned in the strongest terms Thursday the American aggression that targeted the vicinity of the Shahid Baghaei Hospital for treating children’s cancer in the city of Ahvaz in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Ministry explained in a statement, a copy of which was received by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), that this aggression caused suffering and a state of panic among children in the hospital, and forced medical teams to emergency evacuate 211 patients who were undergoing chemotherapy.

It pointed out that targeting service and vital facilities, especially hospitals, represents a blatant violation of the provisions of international humanitarian law, especially Article 52 of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions, which prohibits targeting civilian objects. It also constitutes a violation of the United Nations Charter, which criminalizes assaulting the sovereignty of states and targeting their people.

The statement pointed out that this crime brings to mind the deliberate Zionist bombing of hospitals in the Gaza Strip and the destruction of civilian facilities.

It stressed that these attacks constitute war crimes according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as they targeted sick children. They also represent a disgrace on the record of the international community and reflect double standards in the application of international law.