Iran under fire: civilians, schools and hospitals in the line of war

The heaviest civilian burden of this war appears to be falling on Iran. On 30 March, UN experts said that, according to Iranian authorities, close to 2,000 civilians had been killed in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, with more than 3 million people temporarily displaced. They said the strikes had hit schools, hospitals, housing, cultural and religious buildings and essential infrastructure.

The most searing symbol of that damage remains the school strike in Minab. On 6 March, UN experts said a girls’ primary school in Hormozgan province had been hit on 28 February, reportedly killing at least 165 schoolgirls. UNICEF, days earlier, said around 180 children had already been reported killed in Iran and that at least 20 schools and 10 hospitals had been damaged.

The war is also eroding the health system that civilians need once the bombs fall. WHO said on 11 March that it had verified 18 attacks on health care in Iran since 28 February, resulting in eight deaths among health workers. It also warned of pollution risks from petroleum fires and damaged infrastructure, including threats to water and food safety. This matters because a war becomes longer and crueller once trauma care, chronic care and clean water all begin to fray together.

There is another layer here. The war is not only inflicting immediate harm; it is deepening Iran’s pre-existing human-rights crisis. UN experts warned that people in Iran are under pressure both from external attack and internal repression. In plain terms, the bombs are falling on a society that was already brittle. That makes displacement more chaotic, relief more uneven and any future recovery more political.